Arrow Cast Watching Arrow
by WTF is going on here
Summary: Just what it says in the title. Oliver, Thea, Walter, Moira, Tommy, Digg, Laurel, and Felicity are watching Arrow. (This is my first story, so bear with me while I figure this out.) (May have some swearing.)All reviews are welcome, even rude ones.
1. Intro

Chapter 1. (Intro)

"Hi Ollie," greeted Thea, as she saw her brother watching the news in the living room. "Look at that, you're actually home for once," she added with a grin. "Watcha doin'?"

"Hey Speedy. I'm just watching the news." Oliver answered, sounding a little distracted.

"The _news_?! Why don't you watch anything good? " asked Thea in mock surprise.

Oliver merely shrugged in response, and then offered Thea the remote. "You pick then." "OK."

As she sat down, both siblings (and Diggle, who had just walked in) disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

-(line break)-

The next thing they knew, they were the living room, but not the living room they knew. Instead of the boring landscapes their mother hung up everywhere, there were several family photos of a man that looked like Oliver, only older. Standing with him looked an older Laurel. An older _blonde _Laurel, along with a teenaged red headed boy. What was going on?

Suddenly, Moira, Walter, Laurel, Tommy, and Felicity all appeared in blinding flashes of light. "Oh, good. You're all here." said the man from the family photos, walking into the room.

"Who are you? Where are we? Why are we here?" demanded Oliver.

"I'm you from the future. I brought to my time, in order to try to change the future for the better, and to help you all for the present. I'm going to tell you about the Island."


	2. Pilot 1x01

[A/N: wow, I didn't think this story would do so well, so fast! Major thanks to everyone who's read, reviewed, favorited, and just payed attention to this story. You guys are the best!]

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, or anything related to it. Just having some fun with the characters.

Chapter 2 (Pilot Episode)

"What?!" everyone exclaimed. "I'm going to show you what happened to me during the five years I was stranded on that island in the north China Sea." Explained future Oliver calmly. Everyone was shocked, and in some cases, curious. What happened to Oliver there? Present Oliver though, was angry. Angry, and scared. Not that he'd ever admit to it though.

As everyone sat down on the couches and armchairs, Laurel had a question. "What should we call you?" she asked future Oliver. "Just call me Queen. Don't want to cause any confusing when you're talking to one of us. Now, is everyone ready?" Seeing everyone's nods, he switched on the TV.

-(line break)-

_A male figure is running through a heavily wooded area. He is panting from exhaustion, yet keeps running. He is dirty, barefooted, and dressed in ragged green clothing, with a hooded, sleeveless top. As he runs, he jumps up, and grabs a nearby tree branch, using it to swing over a large gap in his path. As soon as he lands, he keeps running as fast as he can._

"Wow, that guy's got some serious moves! Who is that?" asked Thea.

"That's me Speedy." answered Oliver, smiling slightly.

"What? No way!" she exclaimed.

_The man keeps running, and then quickly climbs up a small stone hill. He pulls his face over the top, showing that is indeed Oliver. _

Thea, Moria, Walter, and Laurel all looked stunned. "I told you, that's me- me on the island. I think this is the day I was rescued actually." said Oliver, who was trying not to laugh at their expressions.

Queen said "Let's keep watching, shall we? You guys haven't seen the most surprising part yet."

_Oliver quickly ran over to the farthest edge of the hill. At the edge was bow and several arrows wrapped up to protect them from the elements. He used his knife to set the arrowhead aflame, then, carefully aiming it, he fired the arrow onto a large pile of wood on the beach. The wood instantly catches fire, causing a large explosion. This catches the attention of two fishermen in a nearby boat._

_Oliver: __The Island they found me on is called Lian Yu. It's Mandarin, for 'purgatory'. _

Digg turned to Oliver, (who he was sitting next to) and asked, "Seriously? You speak Mandarin too?"

"Yes, I can."

"Just how many languages do you know?"

"I'm currently fluent in twenty-six different languages, with a basic understanding of another sixteen languages."

"Really?"

"Learning foreign languages was part of my training." Oliver explained.

"Training?" asked Moira in surprise. "What training? You said you were alone on that island."

Oliver sighed. "Just keep watching. You'll find eventually."

_As Oliver's voice over talks, the two fishermen cautiously walk on the beach, towards Oliver._

_Oliver: __ I've been stranded here for five years. I've dreamt of my rescue every cold, black night since then. For five years, I've had one thought, one goal: __survive. __Survive and one day return home._

_Oliver slowly walks to the fishermen, and then falls to his knees. Pushing back his hood, he looks at them with hardened, disbelieving eyes. _

Both Oliver and Queen smiled slightly, remembering that day. The day they finally were able to get off the island and return home. The day they were able to see their family, and finally keep the vow they had made to their father.

_Oliver is then shown on the boat, wrapped in a blanket, and being given something to drink._

_Oliver: __The island held many dangers. To survive, I had to make myself more than what I was. To forge myself into a weapon. I am returning. Not the boy who was shipwrecked, but the man who will bring justice to those who have poisoned my city. My name is Oliver Queen._

Thea, Moira, Walter, Laurel, and Tommy were all shocked at Oliver's words. Digg and Felicity on the other hand, were beaming at Oliver in pride.

Queen chuckled. "Let's keep watching."

"_Oliver Queen is alive." An African American news anchor announces. "The Starling City resident was found by fishermen in the North China Sea five days ago. Five years after he was missing and presumed dead following the accident at which claimed the Queen's Gambit. Queen was a regular tabloid presence, and a fixture of the Starling City club scene. Shortly before his disappearance, he was acquitted of assault charges, stemming from a highly publicized drunken altercation with paparazzi. Queen is also the son of Starling City billionaire Robert Queen, who was also on board, but is now officially confirmed as deceased."_

_The next scene shows Oliver, now cleaned up, looking out his hospital room window, while Dr. Lamb tells Moira his medical results._

"_Twenty percent of his body is covered in scar tissue. Second degree burns on his back and arms. X-rays show at least twelve fractures that never properly healed."_

Everyone in the room (except Oliver and Queen) winced in sympathy once they heard that.

"_Has he said anything about what happened?" Moira asks._

"_No. He's barely said anything." Dr. Lamb answers._

_As Moira turns back to Oliver's room, he adds, "Moira, I'd like you to prepare yourself. The Oliver you lost may not be the one they found."_

"No shit." mumbled Tommy, still angry with Oliver.

_Moira walks into Oliver's room, and says, "Oliver?"_

_Oliver turns around, giving his mother a small smile. "Mom."_

_As Oliver and Moira stand in front of each other for the first time in five long years, Moira tearfully cries, "My beautiful boy!" She then kisses him on the neck as they embrace. Moira looks full of joy, while Oliver is mostly expressionless. _

"Not to be a total killjoy, but how is this supposed to help us?" Thea asked Queen, frowning slightly.

"Keep watching and you'll get your answer very, very, soon," he replied.

_The screen shows a dark, fancy car driving up to the Queen's front door. One of their staff tries to take Oliver's trunk out of the car, but Oliver stops him. "I've got it," he tells the man._

"Huh, don't think I've seen that box before. What's in it?" Laurel asked curiously.

"Stuff." Oliver answered vaguely.

"Island stuff." replied Queen shrugging.

_As Moira and Oliver walk inside, Moira tells her son, "Your room is exactly the way you left it. I never had the heart to change a thing."_

"_Oliver!" greets Walter, as he walks in, "Damn good see you!" Oliver barely reacts, uncertain as to who the man before him is. As they shake hands, Walter tries to remind him. "It's Walter. Walter Steele?" "Oh, you remember Walter-your fathers' friend from the company." Moira chimes in. _

_Oliver doesn't particularly care, and walks past them both, in order to greet Raisa, the Russian maid. "It's good to see you Raisa." He tells her warmly. "Welcome home Mr. Oliver." she answers smiling happily. Turning to Walter and Moira she adds, "Mr. Merlyn phoned, he wants to join you for dinner."_

Tommy almost grinned at the memory, until he remembered the truth: the real Oliver never came home. Instead of his best friend, he got back a lying, murdering psychopath with his friends face. Scowling, he watched the screen, wondering just what the hell they would see next. What possible explanations could they give for Oliver's behavior? After a few seconds of thought, he remembered something. Oliver had mentioned 'his training'. Maybe this 'training' had something to do with it. He decided to keep watching and see.

_Oliver hears a door close, and thinks who it might be. As Thea stands at the top of the stairs, he smiles and greets, "Hey, sis." Thea runs down the stairs, and hugs her brother. "I knew it…I knew you were alive. I missed you so much. " She says thrilled that her brother is back alive. "You were with me the __whole__ time."_ _ He tells her quietly._

_Next shown is the CNRI building in the Glades. Laurel and her friend Joanna are arguing about going up against Adam Hunt. "C'mon Laurel! We're lawyers, not miracle workers. We can't win this." Joanna tries to get Laurel to see reason, but Laurel won't listen. _

"_If we can't win a class action suit against a man who swindled hundreds of people out their homes and life savings, then we're not fit to call ourselves a legal aid office." points out Laurel._

"_Yes, and if we go bankrupt in the process, we won't __be__ a legal aid office. Hunt has an army of lawyers and their ready to bury us." counters Joanna._

"_You and I against an army…." Laurel considers it for a moment, then grins. "I love those odds." _

Everyone (including Oliver and Queen) chuckled and shook their heads at how determined Laurel was to bring scum like the long dead Adam Hunt to justice.

"_Why do you hate me?" asks Joanna, as she walks away. Laurel turns to look at all her evidence against Adam Hunt, with a fierce, focused expression. She then hears a news report about the Queens Gambit._

_After briefly hearing that Oliver was the only survivor of the accident, and hearing (again) that her sister was dead, Laurel switches of the TV. _

_The view goes back to Oliver, in his bedroom. He's walking out of his bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel. As he walks out, he's looking around his room._

_Oliver: __After five years, everything that was once familiar is now unrecognizable. The face I see in the mirror…is a __stranger__. _

_While the voice over happens, Oliver stands in front of the mirror, and looks at his many scars and burns._

Tommy was shocked and horrified at how injured Oliver was. What had happened to him? Looking at everyone else, he could see that they were just as bothered by the scars as him, but it was Thea who asked the question that was on all their minds: "What happened to you Ollie?"

At first, they thought he wouldn't answer, but then, he did.

"Hell." he quietly replied. "Hell happened."

"You need to see this part." said Queen somberly. "It'll start explaining what he meant."

_(start of the flashback)_

_The Queens Gambit was pushing its way through the powerful waves that were threatening to overcome the massive boat. Robert Queen was in one of the hallways, looking at the storms progress on a map. A crew member hurries over to him and tells him, "the storms a category two. The captains recommending we head back."_

"Shoulda listened." mumbled Thea.

_Robert nods. "Alright, inform the crew."_

Thea frowned at that. If her father had chosen to go back, what happened? Why had they still gone down?

_Just then, Oliver comes out of his room. "Are we in trouble?" he asked curiously._

"_One of us is." _

"_Ollie!" Sarah Lance walked out into the hallway wearing only her underclothes, and a thin, black robe. Seeing Robert, she quickly covers herself up. Sounding embarrassed, she asks, "Where do you keep the bottle opener on thing?"_

_Oliver smiles at her, and replies, "I'll be there in minute Sarah."_

_As Oliver goes to follow her, his father stops him. "You know, that is not going to finish well. For either of them, or for you." _

_(End of flashback)_

_Oliver is fully dressed, standing in the foyer, looking at an old photo of him and his father. Just then, Tommy Merlyn walks in. "What I tell ya? Yachts suck." _

_Oliver smiled. "Tommy Merlyn."_

"_I missed you buddy." _

_They share a "man hug", then Tommy starts telling Oliver what he's missed over dinner._

"_Okay, what else did you miss? Superbowl winners: Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. Oh, black president that's new. Oh, and Lost, they were all dead. I think."_

_Thea then curiously asks, "What was it like there?" which makes everyone freeze and look at Oliver. _

"Really Thea?" asked Felicity in surprise and annoyance.

"What?" Thea was confused. Why was this girl getting on her case for, and who was she anyway?

"Calm down Cici, its fine. Thea was just curious, and it's not like she knows a lot about how to deal with someone like me." Said Oliver, hoping to avoid another fight.

"Someone like you? What are you talking about?" asked Thea in annoyance. "Who are you anyway?"

"I'm Oliver's friend Felicity, and he was talking about the fact that he was officially diagnosed with PTSD last week!" she answered irritated.

Everyone went quiet at that. They knew that Oliver had changed, but no one suspected that the island had affected him that much. What happened there?

"H-He was?" asked Moira in shock.

"Yes, he was. He was also diagnosed with depression." answered Digg.

Hoping to avoid the surprised and pitying looks everyone was giving him, he asked Queen, "Can we keep finish watching now?"

"Sure."

"_Cold." Oliver answered._

"_Tomorrow, you and me, we're doing the city. You've got a lot to catch up on." Tommy tells Oliver. _

"_That sounds like a great idea." says Moira enthusiastically. _

"_Good, then I was hoping to swing by the office." adds Oliver, surprising everyone. _

"_No need for all that. Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere." Walter tells him, trying to hide his surprise._

_Just then Raisa trips while bringing a bowl of fruit to the table. Oliver quickly catches the bowl, and steadies Raisa. _

"_I'm so sorry Mr. Oliver." Raisa apologized, clearly embarrassed._

_Oliver calmly replies to her in fluent Russian, which only added to everyone's shock._

"_Dude, you speak Russian?" asked Tommy, amazed._

"_I didn't know you took Russian in college Oliver." Walter added._

"_I didn't know you wanted to sleep with my mother Walter." replied Oliver._

"OLIVER!" Digg and Felicity exclaimed.

"What? It's not like they were gonna say anything about it anytime soon." Oliver answered defensively.

Digg sighed. "We have got to work on your people skills."

_Moira and Walter look at Thea. "I didn't say anything." She tells them._

"_She didn't have to." said Oliver._

_Taking Walter's hand, Moira explains, "Walter and I are married. And I don't want you to think either one of us did anything to disrespect your father."_

"_We both believed that Robert, like you, was uh, gone." added Walter awkwardly. _

"_It's fine." Oliver calmly lied, nodding. Standing up he asked, "May I be excused?" _

_As he leaves the room, Tommy reminds him of their trip the next day._

_The scene changes to back Oliver's bedroom. Oliver is lying on the floor, with rain falling on him through the open window._

_The scene changes to a bedroom in the Queen's Gambit. _

"_One, two, three… It's getting closer." Sarah Lance tells Oliver, obviously worried about the storm they're sailing in._

"_That's not very scientific." Oliver walks over to the bed, holding a glass of wine. _

"блин. (Damn it.)" Swore Oliver, recognizing the scene.

_As Sarah and Oliver lay on the bed kissing, the lights suddenly go out. Before either one of them can react, the whole room flips over. Oliver tries to get up, then sees Sarah a few inches away. He tries to help her up, but can't reach her. As Sarah is sucked into the water, Oliver tries to grab her, screaming her name. Seconds later, Robert is shown pulling him into the life raft. Oliver wants to try to find Sarah, yelling "Sarah! Sarah! Dad, she's out there! SARAH!" Robert pulls him away, telling him Sarah's gone. _

Queen paused the TV, looking pale and sick. He turned to the others, to see their reactions. Felicity, Thea, Laurel, and Moira were silently crying. Walter and Tommy looked horrified, and Oliver looked like he was trying to avoid a panic attack. Thankfully, Digg was helping him.

"Oh, my God…." whispered Thea, stunned. She turned to Oliver, only to see him trying to keep from having an anxiety attack. "Oliver? What's the matter? Are you okay?"

"No, Thea, he isn't. He's having a panic attack," answered Digg. Everyone (except Queen) looked at Oliver worriedly.

"I-I'm fine. Really." Oliver told them, hating the fact that he was showing weakness in front of so many people.

"No, you're not," said Digg. "What did I tell you about lying to me?"

"Not to do it. Sorry," Oliver apologized.

Queen shook his head. "Let's keep watching."

"_Oliver, wake up! Oliver!" Moira shakes Oliver's shoulder, trying wake him up. Oliver immediately sits up, flipping his mother onto her back, ready to break her neck with his hand. _

"_Oliver!" exclaims Walter in shock. Oliver sees that his is hurting his mother, and lets her go, horrified by what he's done. He quickly moves away from them, looking scared. _

"_I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." he apologized._

"_It's okay, it's alright sweetheart." Moira tries to comfort her son. "You're home….you're home."_

"Sorry mom." Oliver apologized again, ashamed of what he'd done.

"Oliver, that wasn't your fault." Digg reminded him. "You weren't trying to hurt her on purpose, were you?"

"No. I still feel bad though."

"Okay, that's pretty understandable. So, did you Yoa Fei teach you that too?" Digg asked him.

"No, Slade did. Why?"

"That was a pretty advanced military move. I'm curious about where you learned it. Was Slade in the military?"

"He said he was in the ASIS."

"The what?" Walter asked in confusion.

"The Australian version of the CIA." Oliver explained. Before anyone could ask him another question, Felicity asked Queen, "Can we finish watching now?"

"Sure."

_The next morning, Oliver walks over to his bed, and pulls out the green box he'd brought home with him. He unlocks it, and pushes away some of the gray material on top. A small brown book is show lying right on top. Oliver takes it out, and sets it aside._

"What was that book?" asked Moira, trying to hide her worry. That couldn't be what she thought it was. Surely it wasn't, right?

"It was my copy of the List."

"What list?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

_Thea and one of her friends are in her room talking. Thea's friend is cutting a white powder with a card. _

"_Where did you get these?" Thea asks her friend._

"_Roxies." she answered, holding up an orange prescription bottle. _

_Oliver knocks on the door, so both of them hide what they were doing. Oliver walks in holding his jacket. _

"_Ollie!"_

"_No one's called me that in a while Speedy."_

"_Worse nickname __ever__." _

"_What, always chasing after me as kid? I thought it fit pretty well." Oliver shrugs. "Maybe it still does."_

"_See you at school Speedy." Says Thea's friend before she leaves._

"_Sorry about that."_

"_I have something for you."_

_Thea laughs. "You did __not__ come back from a deserted island with a souvenir."_

"_It's a hosen, and in Buddhism, in symbolizes reconnecting." Oliver explains. "I kept in hopes that one day, it would reconnect me with you." _

Everyone smiled at the scene. Even Tommy, who was still pretty angry at Oliver, thought that the gesture was nice of him. He hoped it wasn't just a lie, like all the other things Oliver had told all of them. He was also starting to see why Oliver was so different. What happened to Sarah was awful; no wonder he had a panic attack after seeing it again. He didn't really get why Oliver had PTSD though. Could something like that really cause it? Or was there something more to the story?

"_A rock, that's sweet!" Tommy joked. "Y'know I want one of those T-Shirts that says 'My friend was a castaway, and all I got was this crappy shirt.'"_

"_Don't let him get you into too much trouble." Thea tells her brother. "I just got you back. Take it slow." She smiles and hugs Oliver._

"_The city awaits." Tommy announces as they leave. Once they're in the hall, Tommy asks Oliver, "Have you noticed how hot your sisters gotten?" Oliver glares at him. Tommy quickly adds, "Because I have not."_

"Really Tommy? Really?" Laurel and Thea asked, shaking their heads.

"What? I was joking!" Tommy said defensively.

"Right." Thea rolled her eyes.

"Sure you were."

"I was!"

Before the argument could get out of hand, Digg said, "Let's keep watching."

_Tommy and Oliver are in Tommy's car, speeding through town._

"_Your funeral blew." Tommy tells Oliver._

"_Did you get lucky?" _

_Tommy laughs. "Fish in a barrel." He adds what all the girls were like at the funeral, and that he hopes that there will be 'another target rich environment' for his welcome back bash. _

"Really Tommy? You used your best friends funeral to pick up girls?" Laurel asked angrily. "And you want people to believe that you've changed."

"You're really surprised that he did that?" asked Thea. "Of course he did. He's Tommy Merlyn_. _He always does things like that."

"Tommy," Oliver added, "كنت أحمق، وكنت حقا بحاجة إلى أن نتعلم أن نأخذ في ملابسك. تحتاج أيضا ليكبر وتكف عن الشكوى حول كل شيء." (You're an idiot, and you really need to learn to keep in your pants. You also need to grow up and stop complaining about everything.)

"You know Arabic too?" asked Digg in disbelief.

Tommy sighed. "Do I wanna know what he just said?"

"Nope."

"_Wait, my what?" Oliver asks in surprise. _

"_You came back from the dead! This calls for a party. You tell me where and when, and I'll take care of everything." Tommy promises. _

_Tommy drives through the Glades, and stop the car near the Queen's old factory. _

"_This city's gone to crap." Tommy looks around at the abandoned buildings and homeless people. "Your dad sold his factory just in time. Why'd you want to drive through this neighborhood anyway?" _

"_No reason." Oliver answers, looking at the factory._

"_So what'd you miss the most?" Tommy asks. "Steaks at the Palm, drinks at the station?" Tommy grins. "Meaningless sex?"_

"_Laurel." _

_Tommy stops smiling. "Everyone is happy you're alive, and you want to see the one person who isn't?" _

_Oliver turns to Tommy and shrugs._

"_Laurel," Joanna says at CNRI. "Look at what I just got from Hunts lawyers. They filed for a change of venue. We are now in front of Judge Grout." _

"_Hunt founded Grouts reelection campaign." Laurel comments dismayed. "He's got Grout in his back pocket."_

"_Mm-hm. Y'know, it's fun being your friend. I get to say 'I told you so', __a lot."_

"_No, Adam Hunt is not smarter than us."_

"_No, he's just richer and willing to commit multiple felonies." points out Joanna._

"_We don't need to go outside the law—"starts Laurel._

"_To find justice." Joanna finishes. "Your dads favorite jingle."_

_As Laurel turns around, she sees Oliver looking at some of her information on Hunt._

"_Hello Laurel."_

_Oliver and Laurel walk outside. "You went to law school. You said you would."_

"_Yeah. Everyone's proud."_

"_Adam Hunt's a heavy hitter. You sure you want to get in the ring with him?"_

"_Five years, and you want to talk about Adam Hunt?"_

"_No, not really."_

"_Why are you here Ollie?"_

"_To apologize. It was my fault. I wanted to ask you not to blame her."_

"_For what? Falling under your spell? How could I possibly blame her for doing the same things I did?"_

"_I never meant…" Oliver starts._

"_She was my __sister__. I couldn't be angry because she was dead. I couldn't grieve because I was so angry. That's what happens when your sister dies while screwing your boyfriend. We buried an empty coffin, because she was at the bottom of the ocean, where you left her. It should have been you." _

"_I know it's too late to say this, but I'm sorry." Oliver says._

"_Yeah, I'm sorry too. I'd hoped you'd rot in hell a whole lot longer than five years." Laurel replies, walking away. _

"Damn. That was pretty harsh."commented Digg. "No wonder you don't like talking about it."

"No kidding." agreed Felicity.

"Sorry Oliver." Laurel apologized. "That was really harsh. You didn't deserve that."

"Yes, I did." Oliver disagreed quietly. "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa."

"What does that mean?" Walter asked.

"My fault, my fault, my most grievous fault. It's Latin." Oliver answered. He turned back to the TV. "Let's just finish this already."

_Laurel stalks past Tommy. "How'd you think that was gonna go Tommy?" _

"_Not like that." he answered._

_Tommy and Oliver walk back to the car. "Okay, so took care of that, good call. Now we can make up for lost time. If you're not too sick of fish, I suggest we find some leggy models, and eat sushi off them. What do you say?" _

_An older dirty van speeds up behind them. "What the hell?" Tommy asks in surprise. Two masked men carrying weapons come out of hiding, and walk over to Oliver and Tommy. A man comes out a nearby door, and exclaims after seeing what's going on. One of the masked men immediately shoots him, before turning back to Oliver and Tommy. They are both shot in the neck with tranquilizers. As the drug knocks out Oliver, he sees one of the men looking at him. He then has another flashback. _

_Oliver, his father, and the ship's captain are in the life boat. Robert gives Oliver a bottle of water. _

"_Here son, drink." _

"_What are doing?!" exclaims the captain. "That's all we've got!"_

"_If anyone's making it out of here, it's gonna be him." Robert answers. He turns back to Oliver. "I'm so sorry; I thought I had more time. I'm not the man you think I am. I didn't build our city, I failed it. And I wasn't the only one." _

"What was dad talking about?" Thea asked, confused.

"The Undertaking." Oliver, Digg, Queen, and Felicity answered.

"The what?"

"_Mr. Queen. Mr. Queen!" One of the kidnappers rip off the hood on Oliver's face, and holds up a Taser. "Did your father survive that accident?" Oliver looks around, and sees the other kidnappers. He also sees Tommy knocked out a few feet away. _

"_I ask the questions, you give me answers." Oliver doesn't respond, so one of the kidnappers Taser him in the chest, and Oliver yells in pain. "Did he make it to the island? Did he tell you anything?" Oliver still doesn't answer, and is Tasered again. _

"_Y-Yes, he did." Oliver finally tells him._

_The man nods. "What did he tell you?"_

_Oliver looks at the man, angry. In an eerily calm voice, Oliver answers, "He told me I'm going to kill you."_

Moira, Walter, Thea, and Laurel all looked at Oliver in shock.

"What the…" Laurel started.

"Please tell me you didn't actually…." added Moira.

_The kidnappers all laugh at him. "You're delusional. You're zip cuffed to that chair."_

_Oliver calmly holds his hands out in front of him. "Not anymore."_

_The kidnappers all reach for their weapons. Before they can do anything to him, Oliver snatches up the chair he was sitting on, and uses it to block a punch from one of the kidnappers. He then hits one of them in head with it. Breaking of a chunk of wood from the chair, he then stabs a kidnapper in the chest with it. Oliver takes the Taser from him and tasses him in the neck with it, before using him to block the third kidnappers' gunfire. _

_As the last man runs away, Oliver chases after him, after making sure Tommy is okay. As Oliver runs off, Tommy cautiously opens his eyes, and looks around. Oliver follows the kidnapper from the roofs of the warehouses, while dodging gunfire. The last man runs into another building, and Oliver jumps down from the roofs catch to him. _

_Inside the building, the gunman rips off his mask as he runs. He looks behind him, and sees that Oliver is still coming after him. Getting desperate, he attempts to shoot Oliver again, with no success. As he tries to reload his gun, Oliver uses a nearby chain to swing himself over to the man, and knocks the gun out of his hand. Oliver then puts him in a painful looking hold. _

"_You killed that man."_

"_You don't have to do this!" the kidnapper pleads, his voice strained._

"_Yes, I do. Nobody can know my secret." Oliver snaps his neck, and lets the body fall to the ground._

Thea, Walter, Laurel, and Moira all looked at Oliver in shock and horror. None of them could believe that he had killed those men like it was nothing. What happened to him? Why was he like that?

"S-So you just killed those men? Just like that?" asked Thea, horrified by what her brother had done.

"Yes, I did. Just as I was trained to." Oliver answered. "I was trained to track, follow, and bring down my target, quickly and efficiently. I also was taught to use lethal force at all times, unless specifically ordered to do otherwise."

"But doesn't killing people bother you?" asked Thea, trying make sense of this new information.

"' Emotions are a waste of time.'" Oliver and Queen recited. "' Emotions are unnecessary distractions. Emotions make you weak. Emotions will get you killed. Emotions are useless. Emotions will distract you from the mission. The mission is everything, emotions are nothing. Giving into emotions, in any way, is wrong, and will lead to death, or Punishment."

Everyone look startled at their words. "Who told you that?" asked Moira growing even more concerned about her son.

"Slade, one of my instructors. He would have me repeat things like that for hours, especially after I'd done something stupid." answered Queen.

Tommy shook his head at that. No wonder he was so different. Hopefully he wasn't lying again. Tommy wondered what else had happened to him there. Tommy decided he probably didn't want to know, considering what Oliver acted like. He remembered Oliver's scars, and how he and Queen said that showing emotions could lead to 'Punishment'. Yeah, he really didn't want to know.

_Tommy, Oliver, and his family are sitting in the living room, talking with Detective Lance, and his partner. "So that's your story. A guy in a green hood flew in and took out three armed kidnappers? Why would he do that?" _

"_I don't know." answers Oliver. "Find him, and you can ask."_

_Lance looks at Tommy. "What about you? You see the hood guy?"_

"_I saw…just movement." answers Tommy hesitantly. "I was kind of out of it." _

"_It's funny isn't it? One day back and already somebody's gunning for you. Aren't you popular?"_

"_Were you able to identify the men?" asks Moira, trying to keep her emotions in check._

_Lances' partner explains that their identities had been wiped, and that they were carrying untraceable weapons. Then Lance starts talking again._

"_Yeah, well, they probably figured you'd pay a kings' ransom to get your boy back. Or a Queens' ransom, as it were." He looks at Oliver. "After all, a parent would do anything to protect their kids." _

"_I don't find your tone appropriate Detective." Moira intervenes. _

"_If Oliver can think of anything else, we'll be sure to call." Walter adds, standing up. "Thank you, gentlemen, for coming." _

_Lance and his partner start to leave. Looking at Oliver again, Lance comments, "Your luck never seems to run out does it?"_

_Oliver is then shown in his room, reading information about Adam Hunt on his computer, and in some newspaper clippings. He then looks at the List, and sees Hunts' name. _

"_You are different." comments Raisa, as she comes in carrying a plate of food. Oliver looks up and smiles at her. "Not like you to read a book."_

"_I missed you, Raisa."_

"_No kitchen on the island?" she smiles back at him._

"_No. No friends either." Oliver gets up, and takes the tray from her. "Hey, thank you." Putting the tray down on a small table near his bed, he asks Raisa, "Do I really seem different?"_

"_No. You're still a good boy."_

"_Oh, I think we both know I wasn't."_

"_But a good heart."_

"_I hope so. I want to be the kind of person you always told me I could be."_

"Awww! That pretty sweet." commented Felicity. "She seems like such a good person."

Oliver and Queen smiled softly, thinking of Raisa. "Yeah, she is."

_Oliver walks outside, buttoning his coat. Moira calls him over. "Oliver, I want to introduce you to someone. John Diggle. He'll be accompanying you from now on."_

"_I don't need a babysitter." Oliver tries to politely tell his mother._

"_Darling," Walter starts, "Oliver's a grown man, and if he feels he doesn't need our protection, then.." _

"_I understand, but this is something I need."_

Digg chuckled. "Here comes one of the first times Oliver decides to try to give me a heart attack."

_Oliver tries to start a conversation with Digg while in the car. _

"_So…what do I call you?"_

"_Diggle's good. Digg if you want."_

"_You're ex-military?"_

Curious, Walter asked Oliver, "How could you tell that?"

"His shoes, and the way he was standing."

"Really? How did you notice that?"

"I was trained to notice the smallest details, and to read peoples' body language."

"_Yes, sir. 105__th__ Airborne out of Kandahar. Retired. Been in the private sector a little more than four years now. I don't want there to be any confusion, Mr. Queen. My ability to keep you out of harm's way will out way your comfort. Do we have an agreement? Sir?" _

_Digg waits for Oliver to respond, but all he hears is the back door opening, then closing. Digg looks in the review mirror, and sees that Oliver is gone. He exclaims "Sir!" and stops the car to look around for Oliver._

Digg and Felicity both laughed at the scene. Oliver smiled softly, and Queen gave a quiet chuckle.

"Sorry Digg." They apologized. "I wasn't trying to scare you that much."

_Oliver is walking through the Glades, carrying several large, heavy looking bags. He turns a corner, and walks to his family's old factory. He pauses at the gate, then throws the bags over. He then jumps over the gate, and brings the bags in the factory._

_Oliver: __The abduction was unexpected. It forced me to move up my plans. (He picks up an old magazine, with his father's face on the cover.) But what I told the police was true. The man in the green hood was there in that warehouse. And he's just beginning. _

"Wait, how could he man in the green hood be there, unless…" Thea looked at Oliver, stunned. "You're the Hood?!"

"Yes, I am."

Walter smiled at that. "Why are you smiling?" Moira asked him. "It was the Hood who rescued me a few weeks ago." 

"You're welcome." 

_Over the next few days, Oliver sets up his base of operations. He knocks down walls, set up lights and a computer station, and starts making arrows. Then he starts exercising. First he jumps up several rungs on the salmon ladder, and then hangs upside down from a pipe. Once done with that, he gets the green box he brought back from the island. He opens it, and takes out a green bow. He walks over to an empty part of the room, carrying the bow, and a quiver of arrows is strapped to his back. Several tennis balls go bouncing away from him. Oliver calmly takes out an arrow and nocks it. After a moment, he fires it. He fires the other arrows in rapid succession. After the last arrow is fired, the camera turns to show that Oliver hit every single tennis ball, dead center, in just a few seconds._

_Oliver watches a news report about Laurel's civil suit against Adam Hunt, frowning slightly._

_Oliver:__ Adam Hunt. His crimes go deeper than fraud and theft, but he's been able to bully, bribe, or murder anyone who's gotten in his way. He hasn't met me yet._

_Adam Hunt is talking to one of his workers, while walking to his car. "You remind Grout that I put him on the bench, I can take him off. I will turn him into a cautionary tale." _

"_Yes, Mr. Hunt."_

"_And this attorney, Laurel Lance. I thought you said she wasn't going to be a problem anymore. I told you to fix that situation." _

_After a pause, Hunt turns to him, and asks, "Why are you still here?" The man quickly turns away, and leaves. Hunt walks to his car, but the something takes out a light behind him. Seconds later, an arrow hit one of his guards in the chest. The other one exclaims, "Get in the car!" Once Hunt is in the car, he turns around, and fires his gun behind him. _

"_Hey. You missed." Oliver's voice echoes eerily across the garage. The guard whirls around, frightened. Hunt, who looks just as frightened, listens to the fight going on a few feet away. The window shatters open, and he is thrown out of his seat, and on the wet cement of the garage. He looks up and sees Oliver, dressed as the Hood, pointing an arrow at him._

"_Whoah, whoah!" exclaims Hunt. "Just tell me you want." Oliver jumps off Hunts' car and pulls Hunt up by his shirt._

"_You're going to transfer forty million dollars into Starling City Bank account 1141 by ten pm tomorrow night."_

"_Or what?"_

"_Or I'm going to take it. And you won't like how." Oliver answers, and then leaves. _

"_If I see you again, you're dead!" Hunt threatens. Oliver fires another arrow at the back window of Hunts' car in response. Hunt watches the window shatter, then looks back at Oliver. However, Oliver has disappeared._

"Jeez, how do you do that?" asked Tommy, curiously.

"I'm very fast, and just as stealthy." Oliver replied.

"_He was wearing a hood. A __green__ hood." Hunt tells Detective Lance and his partner the next day. "And he had a bow and arrow." Lance gives his partner a disbelieving look. "What, you don't believe me?" He holds up one of Olivers' arrows. "That maniac put two of my men in the hospital." _

"_Well, thanks for your statement." Lance says. "We'll put out an APB on…Robin Hood." _

_Hunt becomes annoyed at this. "Hey pal; I'm not some grocery store owner who got taken for his register. I go to the front of the line. Now, he said he would back here by ten o'clock. Make sure you're here first. You can coordinate with my new head of security, Mr. Dracon." _

"_Looks like Queen was telling the truth." comments Lances' partner._

"_Yeah, well, there's a first time for everything." Lance replies. "This hooded guy comes looking for trouble, he'll find it."_

_Later that night, Oliver walks to the car, so he can go to Tommy's party. When he opens the door, he sees Digg sitting in the back seat. "Don't forget to put your seatbelt on sir. Wouldn't want you to miss your party." _

_As Oliver walks into the party, he sees that it's loud, and crowded with people he probably doesn't even know. People are drinking, dancing, and several half naked women are dancing on raised platforms throughout the room. _

Oliver and Queen made a face at the scene. Neither of them liked crowed places, and all the noise had just made it worse. All of that, combined with the dark, flashing lights had made it a nightmare for them.

Tommy noticed their expressions. "What's with the long faces?" he asked them.

"I hate noisy, crowed places. I'm not used to being around so many people, and the noise…well honestly, all that noise hurts. The weird lighting bothers me too. It's harder to see, and hear, what's going on around me, which makes me really tense. I had to go to the party anyway because that's what everyone expected of me. Nobody even bothered to ask if I wanted to go or not though. Seriously, didn't any of you consider that I might've wanted to stay home?" Oliver answered, sounding slightly annoyed.

Thea, Moira, Walter, Tommy, and Laurel all looked at each other in surprise. Oliver was never that honest with them. Also, none of them knew that he felt that way. They had never even considered it. They all started to feel guilty about the way they had been treating him. How many times had he done something only because he felt forced into doing it? How often had they made plans for him, without asking if he actually wanted to do it? They had always just assumed that's what he would want, because that was what the old, pre-island Oliver wanted. They had never even considered that he might not want the same things anymore. All of them were just starting to see how much Oliver had changed over the years.

_Oliver walks down the stairs to the party. As he does this, he checks the time on his phone. Tommy turns away from a random group of girls, and sees Oliver coming his way. Grinning, he motions to the DJ to stop the music. _

_Slapping Oliver on the chest, he calls, "Man of the hour!" The crowd cheers, holding up their drinks. "Ladies, give this man this man a proper homecoming." Queens' 'We Are the Champions' starts playing over the speakers while Oliver walks into the room. He gets up onto a platform and calls, "Hey everybody!" Tommy passes him a shot of tequila. Oliver drinks it, grinning. "I missed tequila!" _

Oliver and Queen both grimaced. "I hate tequila."

Felicity nodded in agreement. "I don't blame you. That stuff's nasty."

_In Hunts' office, several security guards are reading their weapons. Taking a drink, Hunt looks out his window, and asks, "What's hell's going on out there?" "Across the street. A party for that guy that got rescued off that island. Oliver Queen." Mr. Dracon answers._

_Back inside the party, Oliver finishes talking to a girl before Tommy comes over. Looking at Digg, Tommy asks Oliver, "Hey, does he wipe for you too?" _

"Smartass." Digg mumbled, glaring at Tommy.

"Jerk." Mumbled Felicity, also giving Tommy an angry look.

"мудак,"(Asshole) Oliver cursed, angry at Tommy for that again.

"_By my estimate, you have not had sex in 1,839 days. As your wingman, I highly recommend Carmen Golding." He turns Oliver around, and points to a small group of dancing girls. _

"_Which one is she?"_

"_The one that looks like that chick from Twilight."_

"_What's Twilight?"_

"_So better off not knowing."_

"Gonna have to agree with that." commented Oliver. "Especially after Cici made me watch all the movies. One after the other. That was a horrible start to that movie night." 

_As Oliver looks around at the other guests, he sees Thea, and some of her friends, buying drugs. "Be right back." he tells Tommy. _

_Oliver pulls Thea away from her friends. "Ollie! This party is sick." Thea tells him, happy._

"_Who let you in here?"_

"_I believe it was someone who said, "Right this way Ms. Queen." she answered jokingly. _

"_You shouldn't __be__ here."_

_Thea scoffs. "I'm not twelve anymore."_

"_No, you're seventeen.."_

"_Ollie, I love you, but you can't come back here and judge me. Especially for being just like you." _

"_I know it couldn't have been easy for you while I was.. away…" Oliver starts. _

"_Away?" Thea scoffs again. "No, you __died.__ My father and my brother __died.__ I went to your funerals."_

"_I __know__." _

"_No, you don't. Mom had Walter, and I had no one. You guys act like its cool, let's forget about the last five years, but I __can't__. Remains kind of permanently in there. So, I'm sorry if I turned out some major disappointment. But this, me, is the best I could do with what I had to work with." She turns back to her friends. "Let's bounce." _

"And that's why I don't bother trying talk about personal things with Thea anymore. She just keeps complaining, and always just shuts me down whenever I actually try to open up, or at the very least try to show her what I'm like now. She never listens, just keeps talking about herself, apparently forgetting that she wasn't the only one who was affected by the last five years. And, yeah, what Mom did was screwed up, but Thea probably could have found someone else to talk to, or a healthier way to deal with her grief. For the record, I haven't forgotten about everything that happened over the last few years. I can't. Lots of normal, everyday things cause me to have flashbacks, and panic attacks, EVERY SINGLE day. It's some of the things I have to deal with because of my PTSD. Also, I know that I did stuff like that, and that telling you to stop makes me sound like a huge hypocrite. But what the hell makes you think that I want you to be like me in the first place? I've completely screwed up multiple times, and have risked serious jail time because of my stupidity. Sarah wound up dead because of me. Do you really think, for even one second, that I want you to be like that?" Oliver looked at Thea. "I had to watch Sarah die, and there was nothing I could do to save her, just like I had to watch Dad shoot himself in the head. Do you really think I could forget any of that? I never even got the chance to grieve, because I had to ignore all my emotions, and repress all of it so I could survive. I can't even talk about it with my own family, because they're never around, and they never actually listen, or anything. Then everyone wonders why I never talk about what happened to me." Oliver finished bitterly.

Everyone, with the exception of Queen and Digg, was stunned silent by what Oliver had said. Thea and Moira felt horrible about the way they had been acting. Thea then noticed that Digg wasn't that surprised by what Oliver had told them. "Hey Digg, how come you're so calm about all this?"

"I already knew about it all. Oliver told me about this months ago. FYI, Oliver is still holding back. He still hasn't told you everything he's been feeling about you acting like that, and how he's been dealing with everything."

"What? What do you mean he already told you this? When did this happen?" asked Moira.

"He started after the shooting at the stock exchange, when I agreed to help him with his Hood stuff. At first, he wouldn't tell me anything. But the more time we spent together, and the more we got to know each other, the more he opened up to me. He's also started talking to Felicity as well, which has also been helping him. I've been trying to help him as much as I can, but you guys need to help him too." Answered Digg.

_Oliver throws away Thea's drugs in a nearby garbage can, then starts to walk back to the bar. He nearly walks into someone, but catches them before they fall. The woman turns out to be Laurel. "You're here." Oliver says, surprised. _

"_Tommy." Laurel explains, then adds that Tommy had talked her into going to the party, in order to try to have a more civilized conversation with Oliver. "Is there some place quieter we could go?" _

_They walk outside, the party just background noise. "I'm sorry about saying you should have been the one that died. That was wrong."_

"_If I could trade places with her, I would." Oliver replies quietly._

"_About Sarah, there's something I've been afraid to ask, but I need to know." _

"_Okay."_

"_When she died, did she suffer?"_

_Oliver briefly flashes back to Sarah's death. He shakes his head. "No." _

"_I think about her every day." _

_Oliver nods. "Me too." _

"_I guess we still have one thing in common then. I can't believe I'm going to say this but, if you need someone to talk to, about what happened to you there, I'm here." _

_An alarm on Oliver's phone goes off, and he checks the screen. Once he knows that Hunt hasn't transferred the money, he puts his phone away, and looks back at Laurel._

"_Something wrong?"_

"_I asked someone to do something. They didn't do it." Oliver answers._

"_Laurel," Oliver starts. "You always saw the best in me. Right now, that's what you're doing. You're looking at me, and you're trying to see if that island changed me, if it made me a better person. It didn't. Stay away from me. Otherwise, I'm just gonna hurt you again. And this time, it's gonna be worse." _

_Laurel is speechless as Oliver walks away. "Gotta roll. Got five years of debauchery to catch up on." _

"_You know what Oliver? That island did change you. At least now you're honest." _

"Of course she says that right when I was lying my ass off." Commented Oliver, who was trying to hide his self-loathing at that particular memory.

"Why were you lying?" Thea asked. "I didn't want Laurel getting involved. I was afraid she'd get hurt. I'd already gotten Sarah killed, I didn't want to do the same to her." Queen explained.

_Oliver frowns as Laurel leaves, and looks angrier with himself as he thinks over what just happened. He goes back inside, and walks right past Digg, who is standing outside one of the doors to Oliver's party. "Something I can help you with sir?" Digg calmly asks Oliver. _

_Oliver turns around, and gives the older man a fake smile. "I just wanted a second to myself." _

"_I would believe you, Mr. Queen, if you weren't so full of crap." _

Everyone laughed at that. "Did he really say that?" asked Walter in between laughs.

"Yeah, he did." Oliver answered.

"Really? Weren't you offended by that?" Moira wondered.

"No, I wasn't. I actually liked the fact that he was so honest." Queen replied. Both he and Oliver gave Digg one of their rare, genuine smiles. "That's one of the reasons I like him so much. He's always honest with me, and unlike nearly everyone else I know, he never pressures me into being someone I'm not. The only things he really asks of me are that I'm honest with him, and that I try to really live my life."

"_The party's this way." Digg reminds him, gesturing to the doors. _

_Oliver pretends to try to open the doors. "It's locked." He tells Digg. Digg steps forward, and tries to open the door. Before he can do anything, Oliver puts him in a painful looking hold, and knocks him out. _

"Sorry Digg." Oliver and Queen apologized in unison.

_In Hunt's office, Mr. Dracon is giving several guards orders, then heads into the main office were Hunt is. "It's past ten. He's never getting in here." One of Oliver's grappling arrows hits the wall by the window, and anchors a zip line._

_Detective Lance and his partner talk while the other police get ready for anyone who tries to break in._

"_All's clear." Comments Lances' partner._

"_Yeah."_

_Inside, all of the lights go off in Hunts' office. The guards tense up, and look around warily. An elevator comes up to the floor, and opens. An arrow shoots out, hitting a guard in the chest. Oliver runs out the elevator, and takes out the first five of the guards in seconds. The men in the office listen, trying to figure out what's going on. A body crashes through the glass doors of the office, and the nearest guards shoot, thinking it's the man in the hood. Oliver shoots downs two more guards, and knocks out a third one, before going after Hunt._

_Oliver fires an arrow at Hunt, but it misses, hitting the wall behind him. Oliver comes over, pointing another arrow at him. _

"_You missed." Hunts sneers. _

"_Really?"_

_Mr. Dracon jumps out and attacks Oliver before he can say another word. Hunt leaves the two of them fighting. As he leaves his office, Hunt gets out his phone and calls Lance, telling him that the man in the hood is there. Lance hangs up, and leads the rest of the police into the building. _

_Oliver and Mr. Dracon continue fighting, with Oliver using several different kinds of martial arts to fight back. Hunts' office winds up becoming increasingly damaged as their fight continues. Mr. Dracon picks up a discarded gun, and tries to shoot Oliver, but it doesn't work. Oliver throws one of his smaller arrows at the gun, at the same time he jumps behind the desk. The gun is knocked loose from Dracons' hand, but Oliver is knocked out when he lands. _

_He wakes up just as the police enter the hallway. He quickly pulls up his hood, and grabs his bow, trying to figure a way out. As the SWAT team enters the room, Oliver shoots one of their flashlights in order to make a distraction. He then gets up, and jumps through one of the windows, sliding down the zip line he made earlier. Lance and his partner watch him, shocked. They go back downstairs, to look for the man in the hood at Olivers' party. _

_Lance and his team enter the party, and Lance has the music turned off, before telling everyone the party is over._

_He sees Tommy talking to some girls. "Oh, Mr. Merlyn, imagine my shock at finding you here. Did you roofie anyone special tonight?" Tommy merely smiles at the detective. _

"_Detective," starts Oliver as he joins them. "This is a private party." _

"_Yeah, well there was an incident at Adam Hunts' building tonight. Do you know anything about that?"_

"_Whose Adam Hunt?" asks Oliver in fake confusion. _

"_He's a millionaire bottom feeder, and I'm kinda surprised you aren't friends."_

"_I've kinda been outta town for a while." Tommy smiles at the joke._

"_Well he just got attacked by the guy in the hood. The guy that saved your ass the other day."_

"_The hood guy? You find him, and I'm gonna offer a reward." Oliver gets onto a nearby platform and calls out, "Hey guys, two million dollars to anybody who can find a nutbar in a green hood." The crowd starts cheering as Oliver turns back to Lance._

"_Did you even try to save her? Did you even try to save my daughter?" asks Lance, as his partner pulls him away. The questions wipe the smile off Olivers' face. Looking slightly upset, Oliver places a smile on his face as he turns back to the crowd. "It's way too quiet in here!" he exclaims. "This is a party!" _

_The crowd cheers, and the music starts up again. "Some coincidence, I mean you asking to have your party here, and Hunt getting robbed right next door, and by the same guy who rescued us at the warehouse?" Comments Tommy._

"_If I were you Tommy, I'd just be glad you're alive." Says Oliver. _

"_What happened to you on that island?" Tommy asks, his voice shaking slightly. _

"_A lot." _

"Занижение десятилетие." (Understatement of the decade.) commented Queen to Oliver.

"Я собирался занижение до века, но я думаю, что тоже работает." (I was going to the understatement up the century, but I guess that works too.) Oliver answered, joking a little.

_The next day, Hunt is at his office, on the phone with his accountant. "What the hell are you talking about?!" He shouts angrily. "Forty million dollars doesn't just up and vanish." He listens to his accountant for a few seconds, then starts yelling again. "Untraceable? It is __forty million dollars__! Find it!" _

Everyone turned to Oliver and Queen. "How did you do it?" asked Walter curiously.They both grinned. "Keep watching." Oliver replied. "You'll find out in a few seconds." Queen added.

_Hunt sits in his chair, his face buried in his hands. "How did he do it?" The camera moves to the arrow Oliver had shot at the wall. A small, blinking device is attached to the shaft. The scene changes to Oliver in the factory basement, watching the money transfer on a computer. _

"Get it now?" Queen asked everyone. "It was the arrow, one of my trick arrows. That specific one was for hacking." He explained.

"So you can hack, too?" asked Thea in surprise.

"Yeah, I can hack the FBI, CIA, the U.S Treasury, the White House, and Interpol, at the same time, in less than ten minutes." Oliver told her.

_Oliver picks up the battered leather book he'd gotten out his green box, and looked for Adam Hunts' name. Once he found it, he got out a pen, and crossed out the name._

_He looks at the old magazine with his father's face on the cover. He soon starts having a flashback._

_Oliver, his father, and the captain were in the life raft. They had obviously been adrift for several days. They were all dirty, weak, and tired. _

"狗屎!" (Shit!) cursed Oliver, knowing what was coming next. He really didn't want to see it, but he knew this was important. The others would hopefully begin to understand why he was so different.

_The captain was slumped against one side of the raft, weakly holding onto a large knife. Robert looked at him, the knife, then his son._

"_There's not enough for all of us."_

"_Save your strength." Oliver told him tiredly._

"_You can survive this, make it home, make it better. Right my wrongs. But first, you gotta live through this." Oliver starts to fall asleep again. Robert shakes him awake. "You hear me, son?" _

"_Just rest, Dad." Oliver goes back to sleep._

_Robert thinks for a moment, then murmurs, "No." He gently kisses Oliver on the temple, the carefully leans him against the side of the life raft. Glaring determinedly at the captain, he reaches into his life jacket, and pulls out a small gun. He shoots the captain in the head, and Oliver exclaims in shock. Robert puts the gun to his head, ignoring Olivers' scared protestations. He looks at Oliver and says, "Survive." Then he pulls the trigger, killing himself._

The whole room was silent. No one, except Oliver and Queen, could believe what they had just seen. They all knew it was going to show eventually, Oliver had mentioned it before, but they hadn't been expecting that. No wonder Oliver refused to talk about what had happened to him. What they had seen so far was horrible. They were all surprised he could function at all after seeing things like that.

_The next scene was Laurel at CNRI, on the phone with one her clients. "If hypothetically, $50,000 were told appear magically in your bank account, it might be best not to talk about it. To anyone. Ever." She smiles at something her client says. "God bless you too."_

_Joanna comes over, and says she just got off the phone with one of their clients, who was very happy with them. _

"_Me, too." They both laugh._

"_It looks like Starling City has a guardian angel." Says Joanna. "By the way, your cute friend is here." _

_Laurel stops smiling, thinking that Joanna means Oliver came back. She looks up, and sees Tommy smiling at her. They walk outside, and start talking. _

"_You left the party pretty quick last night. Even after I made sure the bar was stocked with Pina Noir." _

"_It wasn't really my scene."_

"_I thought maybe you and Oliver went mano a mano again. I saw you to head out."_

"_There's nothing between Oliver and I. Not anymore."_

"_Here I thought the only thing between you and Oliver was us."_

"_I wouldn't exactly characterize us as an 'us' Tommy."_

"_Then what would you call it?"_

"_A lapse."_

"_Quite a few lapses. Your place, my place, my place again—" Tommy trailed off. _

_Laurel laughed. "Oh, c'mon, Merlyn, we both know you're not a one woman type of guy."_

"_Depends on the girl."_

"_I have to get back to work." She starts to leave._

_Tommy shakes his head. "Dinah Laurel Lance. Always trying to save the world."_

"_Hey, if I don't try to save it, who will?"_

_Laurel leaves, the camera moves up, showing that Oliver has been watching them, in his Hood outfit, the whole time. _

"Wait, you were there? Watching us? The whole time?" asked Tommy.

"Yes." Answered Oliver. "You both really need to pay attention to your surroundings."

_Another voice over, with Olivers' voice says, "She says the island changed me. She has no idea how much." Another flashback occurs, showing Oliver, in the life raft. He weakly sits up, and looks over the edge of the life raft. The island is shown, the raft floating towards it. "There are many more names on the List. Those who rule my city through intimidation and fear. Every single one of them will wish I had __died__ on that island."_

Nobody knew how to respond to that. This was a whole new side to Oliver, one they hadn't seen before. Yes, they knew he was different, but it was unbelievable that he was that different. And if Olivers' scars were anything to go by, they hadn't even seen the worst of his experience yet. His family, along with Laurel and Tommy, also felt guilty about the way they had been treating him. He'd been through hell, and they were angry and hostile to him because he wasn't the same Oliver they had always known. Instead, they should have been stunned that he could function at all, and tried to help him deal with what had happened to him.

Seeing what had happened to Sarah and Robert had really brought that point home to all of them. Yes, seeing it on a screen was terrible, but Oliver had actually been there when it happened, which was so much worse. If they thought seeing it on a TV was bad, they didn't even want to try to imagine what it was like for Oliver. No wonder he was always so reluctant to talk about what happened to him. They thought about what he had said earlier, when he said he felt like he couldn't talk to his own family, because they refused to really listen to him. That must have made it so much worse for him, silently suffering with all that trauma from five years, and no way to deal with it.

"Guys," said Queen. "Keep watching. There's one last thing you need to see. It's about Mom."

_The Queen mansion is shown, the same night as Tommy and Laurels' conversation. An old man comes down the steps saying, "The police failed to identify the men I hired to kidnap Oliver, and never will. Should we arrange another abduction?" _

"_No," answers Moira. "There are other ways of finding out what my son knows." _

"What?!" exclaimed most of the people in the room. "You  were the one who had Oliver kidnapped?" asked Thea worried.

"Yes, she was," answered Queen. "And that's not even the worst thing she's done."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she got Frank Chen murdered." Started Oliver.

"She's the reason Walter was kidnapped," added Queen.

"I knew it." Commented Walter.

"And that's not it." Digg spoke up.

"You mean she done worse things than kidnapping and murder?" Thea wasn't sure she wanted to hear what was next, given everything else she had heard, but was somewhat relieved she was finally getting the truth about what was going on in her family.

"Yeah, she has." Said Oliver.

"She tried to have Malcolm Merlyn killed during that award ceremony last month." Explained Felicity.

"Can't really say I blame her though," commented Queen.

"What? Why would you say that?" demanded Tommy.

"Because the yacht didn't sink in an accident. Your dad, Malcolm Merlyn, actually sabotaged it, trying to kill my dad." Oliver explained quietly.


	3. Intermission 1: Finally Being Honest

Thanks to everyone who has read/ reviewed/ favorited this story, you guys are so great!

Comment responses:

Destiny Changer: Sorry, but Sarah Lance won't be in this story. Nothing against the character, but I just don't think there's a point in putting her in here. It's a little too late any way, seeing as the story is already going. If you want her a story like this, why don't you try writing one yourself? (I'm not trying to be rude, that was an honest suggestion.) And how could she be in Season 2, if she died during the accident?

Bookdancer: Thanks for the advice, I'll keep it in mind. You actually gave me an idea for this chapter, so thanks for that too. Also, I know there's a lot of OOCness happening, I did that on purpose. Just for this story anyway. Besides, do you really think that they would act like they usually do after seeing and hearing everything that happened to Oliver, as well as finding out the truth about Moira and Malcolm?

To the Guest who reviewed on 7/15: You're right, I do need to work on that, thanks for telling me. (Again, not trying to be rude, I'm being serious. Sorry if that came out wrong.) Glad you like it so far.

To the Guest who reviewed on 7/19: Glad to hear that you like it. Hope you keep reading.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show Arrow, the characters on the show, or the character Green Arrow. I'm not making any money from this, and I'm not trying to. No copyright infringement intended, so please don't sue me!

Everyone was silent after that. They were either trying to process all this new information, or giving everyone else a chance to try to process it, knowing that it would only get worse from there. Tommy spoke up first.

"What. The. _Hell?!" _he exclaimed in shock. "What are you guys talking about? How could dad do things like that? Why, _WHY_, would dad have Mr. Queen killed? Just what could have happened to make him do that?" He looked at Moira. "And why would you try to have dad killed?" He shook his head. "None of this makes any sense. I-It can't be true. It can't be!"

"I'm so sorry Tommy, but it is." Moira quietly told him, hating the fact that she was causing so much pain right now.

Thea looked horrified. "I can't even think about that right now." She turned back to Oliver. "Where did you learn to fight like that? And please tell me you didn't really kill those guys in Hunt's office, or the ones who tried to kidnap you."

"I told you already, I did kill those kidnappers. You saw me do it. I don't know if I killed any of Hunt's men, I've never bothered to check. And I was trained to do things like that on the island." He turned to Queen, having just remembered a question he'd wanted to ask.

"Hey, Queen," Oliver started, "How'd you get us here anyway?"

"Remember Zantana?" Asked Queen. Oliver nodded.

"Did she do that –" he gestured to the TV screen, "—too?"

"Yeah."

"Thought so."

Laurel looked up from where she was trying to comfort Tommy. Frowning slightly, she asked, "Who's Zantana?"

"A friend." Answered Oliver. Seeing Thea with a mischievous expression, looking like she was going to say something, he added, "Not my girlfriend, she's just a regular friend."

Thea scoffed. "You don't have regular girl friends. Just girlfriends, or one night stands. If you're not dating 'Zantana', you're probably dating _Cici_ over there, or seeing some other girl we don't know about."

"Actually Thea, I'm not dating anyone, and I'm not having any one night stands either. I haven't had any since before the island. I'm not really all that interested in getting a girlfriend any time soon either. I have more important things to do with my time then chasing girls. It's just another thing that's changed about me." Replied Oliver.

Thea shook her head at that. "Has _anything_ about you stayed the same? Seems like you're a whole other person these days."

"Actually, this is who I've been since I came back, you guys never really saw it because you didn't want to see it. Also, you should stop putting down Tommy. Yeah, he's done some pretty stupid things, but at least _he_ stopped using drugs and drinking all the time. And he did it without crashing his brand new sports car into a tree, going to the hospital, getting arrested for being high at the time, and nearly being sent to prison. Can you say the same? No, you can't. So how about you stop criticizing Tommy for all the stuff he's done, when he's actually been doing better than you."

"And please don't try to give me the whole 'I'm going through a lot more than he is speech' either." Oliver added. "Like I said earlier, you're not the only one who has been effected by the last few years, no matter how much you try to act like it."

"Tommy lost his best friend, someone he's always considered his brother, and the only real father he's ever known. Mom lost both her husband and son, yet is acting CEO for the company, and doing a pretty good job at it too. Laurel lost her sister, found out her sister was having an affair with her boyfriend, who was also dead, and has also had to leave with her mom leaving town, _and_ her dad's drinking. Yet she finished law school, and is now a successful lawyer. Walter also lost his best friend, yet was able to help mom, tried to help you, and saved the company. Hell, I've got PTSD, and _I've_ been doing better than you. So, really, what right do you have to criticize everyone else, when you have such a long list of mistakes yourself?"

Thea was silent, thinking about what Oliver had said. She had to admit, he had a point. Everyone else had suffered during the last few years, but they hadn't let it almost completely ruin their lives. They've all managed to do good things, even while trying to deal with the accident, and the fallout from it.

She suddenly felt like a huge bitch. She remembered how Tommy, Laurel, and Walter had all tried to help her in the beginning, but she had kept pushing them all away. Then she tried to say that no one cared, when really plenty of people cared, she just refused to let them help her. Yeah, her mom never tried to help her, but that didn't mean she was completely alone. No wonder people kept treating her like a child. She was acting like a selfish little kid, so of course people treated her like one.

"I'm so sorry," Thea apologized to everyone in the room. "I've been acting like a total bitch, especially to you Oliver, and that was pretty wrong. I never bothered to consider that other people were dealing with their own problems, and just lashed out and kept pushing everyone away."

"I'm sorry too," Moira apologized. "I haven't been the mother you both deserve. Yes, I've been dealing with a lot, but so are the two of you. Instead of helping you, I've just caused you both more pain. I understand if you won't forgive me, but I am sorry." She turned to Walter and Tommy. "I'm also sorry for the things I've done to both of you. You're both such good men, and don't deserve the things that have happened to you."

Tommy sighed. Turning to Oliver he said, "Sorry Oliver. I've been a total ass to you too. I shouldn't have said all that stuff to you. I should have let you explain about why you do all that vigilante stuff before I just judged you like that. Sure, finding out that you're the Hood was a pretty big shock, but I ought have at least given you a chance to explain why. Especially after you saved my dad's life." He scoffed. "God, I've been such a dick. I yelled at you for everything you've done, yet I wouldn't even listen to you when you said you'd explain."

"Well, maybe now we all can try to start over. Everybody deserves a second chance, right?" Oliver replied.

Everyone looked relived that Oliver, at least, was willing to give them a chance to make up for their mistakes.

"So, Oliver," Thea hesitantly started, " Is it okay if I ask you about what else you can do?"

"Yeah, what else _can_ you do. Y'know, beside kill a guy with a chair." Digg joked.

Oliver chuckled. "Okay, first off, I didn't actually kill that guy with the chair. I stabbed him with a piece of wood that came from the chair. That wasn't what killed him though. I actually do know several ways to kill someone with a chair though."

"Secondly, compared to the fact that I know over 600,000 ways to kill someone using nothing but my thumbs, killing a guy with a piece of wood – or a chair – isn't really all that impressive."

"Thirdly, I don't mind you asking about that Thea. To answer your question, I'm a black belt in nineteen different kinds of martial arts. I have had lots of military style close combat training. That means that I was given the same kind of training soldiers are given during basic training. I'm trained to use several different kinds of weapons, both modern, and older ones. I'm a third degree master swordsman, and I'm also good with weapons like sniper rifles."

"I'm strong enough to bench press over four hundred pounds, and fast enough to nearly catch up to a speeding car. I'm also very stealthy. And like I said earlier, I'm good at hacking, and I know several different kinds of languages."

Oliver gave everyone a minute to process this knew information. He wondered if they would still want to be around him once they knew what he was capable of, and what he'd done in the past. Sure, they said they were sorry and that they wanted to try again, but what would they say if they really knew what he was like now? If they saw just what a monster he'd become, would they still want to be around him, call him family and their friend? He hoped Digg was right when he said that they would try to understand if he was honest with them. He didn't want to lose them all a second time.

Walter spoke up first. "Oliver?"

"Yes?" Oliver answered, hoping that Walter wasn't about to be the first to start rejecting him.

"First, I'd like to thank you for rescuing me. Lord only knows what would have happened to me if you hadn't."

"You're welcome." Oliver answered, still afraid that Walter was going to say something horrible.

"Secondly, may I also ask you a question? You don't need to answer it if you don't want to."

Oliver shrugged. "Sure."

"Why are you being so honest with us? Usually getting a straight answer from you is next to impossible, now you're being totally honest."

"Three reasons. One: You guys will probably be seeing everything that happened to me on the island, and here, soon enough, so there's no real point in lying to you. Two: Digg and Cici are always telling me that I should try to be more honest with you guys, so I'm trying to do that, and hoping this works out. Three: I really don't wanna lie any more. I'm getting sick of it."

Everyone noticed the change in Oliver as he spoke. Instead of the mask he was always putting up, he looked more vulnerable, hesitantly letting them all see the real Oliver Queen, the man who had survived five years in hell. They silently hoped that Oliver wouldn't put his mask back on, that instead, he would keep being honest with them. They all hoped that they could understand this new Oliver, and hopefully, help him deal with his demons.


	4. Honor Thy Father 1x02

Disclaimer: I still don't own any of this, so please don't sue me for this!

"Soooo, does anyone feel like watching more?" Asked in Queen.

"Sure."

"Okay."

"I guess so."

"Why not?"

Soon everyone else agreed to watch more, and Queen turned the TV back on.

_Another voice over, with Oliver's voice starts, as several different clips of Oliver are shown. _

_Oliver:__ The day I went missing is the day I died. Five years in hell forged me into a weapon, which I use to honor a vow I made to my father, who sacrificed his life for mine. In his final moments, he told me the truth, that our family's wealth had been built on the suffering of others. They failed this city, and that it was up to me right their wrongs. But to do that without endangering the people closest to me, I have to be someone else. I have to be some__thing_ _else._

_The scene changes to a roof where Oliver, in his hood gear, is loosely surrounded by several armed men. The men try to get rid of him, but he easily gets them out of the way, before going directly to their boss. The man tries to plead for Oliver to leave him alone, but is ignored._

_Oliver grabs the man by his arm, and throws him onto a nearby A/C unit. Then, he kicks off the fan covering, and holds Whitman's head dangerously close to the powerful fan. Whitman starts pleading even more at the dangerous situation._

_In a cold, hard voice, Oliver tells him, "Marcus Whitman, you've failed this city. Cellphone, inside pocket, call your partner, tell him to give those pensioners back their money. Do it __now.__" _

_The next day, Oliver walks into the living room, where Moira, Walter, and Thea are watching the news. Oliver looks at the screen, and sees that it's a report about his latest exploits as the Hood. _

_"This guy gets more airtime than the Kardashians." Oliver joked._

_"Five years, and you still know who they are." Comments Thea._

_"I've been catching up. It's nice to see how much our culture has improved while I was away." _

_"This city used to be different." Moira says. "People used to feel safe." _

_"What's the matter mom? Worried we're gonna be next?" Thea asks sarcastically._

_Walter looks at Oliver. "Do you have any questions about today Oliver? It's just a simple proof of life declaration. Just read out the brief prepared statement, and your death in absence judgment will be voided."_

_"It's fine, Walter. I've been in a courtroom before."_

_"Four times, by my estimate." Tommy adds, walking into the room. He starts listing all the times Oliver has had to go to court. "There was the DUI, there was the assault on the paparazzi douchebag, stealing that taxi—which was just awesome, by the way-," Tommy adds, looking at Oliver._

"More like stupid, reckless, and irresponsible." Oliver mumbled. "I can't believe I ever thought that was a good idea."

_"And who could forget peeing on the cop?" Tommy finishes, laughing._

_"I wish everyone would." Moira answers, while Walter helps her put on her coat._

_"I'd hang, but we're heading to court."_

_"I know, that's why I'm here. My best friend is getting legally resurrected, I wouldn't miss this for the world." Tommy tells him enthusiastically. _

_"Right, okay." Oliver looks at Thea. "What about you?"_

_"I think the first four times in court for you was enough for me." She answers, leaving the room. _

_"Fair enough." Oliver concedes. _

_Digg comes in and tells them that the car is ready, so they all leave for the courthouse._

_As soon as Oliver gets out the car, reporters surround him, asking about the island, what his plans are, and shoving microphones in his face. _

"Freakin' vultures," commented Digg, annoyed at their pushiness.

_As Oliver tries to get through the crowd, he briefly flashes back to the accident, and starts looking dazed and uncomfortable. He then flashes back to seeing Sarah being washed out the window during the accident._

_"There was a storm." Oliver tells the judge, once inside the courtroom. He takes a deep breath, then continues, "The boat went down, I was the only survivor." Oliver has another flashback, this time of seeing the yacht sinking into the ocean. "My father didn't make it," he continued, while reliving the memory of his father's suicide. "I almost died, I-I thought that I had, because I spent so many days on that life raft before I saw the island. When I reached it, I knew- I knew that I was going to have to live, for both of us. And in those five years, it was that one thought that kept me going." _

_"Your Honor," the lawyer starts. "We move void the death in absentee filed after Oliver's disappearance at sea, aboard the Queen's Gambit five years ago." Oliver looks back at Walter, Moira, and Tommy as the lawyer continues. "Unfortunately, we will not be requesting that the declaration of death for the petitioners father, Robert Queen, be rescinded. The Queen family is only entitled to one miracle, I'm afraid." _

_As they leave the courtroom, Moira tells Oliver, "Now on to the offices. Everyone is waiting to meet you there." _

"Wait, she actually did that?" Laurel asked Oliver and Queen in disbelief. "You just had to tell all those people about the accident, and then just expected you to go to the office, like it was nothing?"

"Yes, that's what happened." They both answered. "Why are you so surprised? That's how she's always been."

Moira felt horribly guilty about what she had done. Not only had she so insensitive to Oliver, which bad enough, but Oliver wasn't even surprised by it. He actually considered things like that to be normal behavior for her! No wonder he never really let his guard down around her. He probably felt like it was the wrong thing to do, like she'd just ignore him or hurt him again. She didn't deserve to be called a mother, she was anything but a real mother. No real mother would hurt their child like that, especially when their child was as traumatized as Oliver is. She hoped that Oliver would let her help deal with everything. She also hoped he wouldn't hate her, once he saw everything she's done. She already lost him once, she couldn't bear to lose him again.

_Oliver caught a hold of Moira's sleeve, and in a slightly shaky voice, said, "Um, Mom, that was a little heavier than I was expecting it to be. Could we do that tomorrow? Please?" _

_Moira looked slightly sad, but understanding at Oliver's words. After sharing a quick look with Walter, she answered, "Of course." _

_"Thank you."_

_"Last week, you couldn't wait to get to the company." Tommy commented, surprised at Oliver's change of mind._

_"Tommy, I just spent five years away from civilization. I wasn't exactly thinking straight." _

_As they head to the courthouse doors, Oliver nearly runs into Laurel again. Laurel is accompanied by two other women: her friend Joanna, and a shorter, blonde woman. As soon as Laurel sees Oliver, she starts looking annoyed. _

_"Hi," Oliver nervously greets her._

_"What are you doing here?" Laurel asks him coldly._

_"They were bringing me back to the dead. Legally speaking." Oliver explains. "What are you doing here?"_

_"My job."_

_"Right."_

_"More like the D.A's." Joanna says, trying to joke. _

_"Hi," Oliver greets Laurels' client. He holds out his hand, adding, "Oliver Queen." _

_"Hi, Emily Noscenti."_

_Still annoyed at how Oliver treated the last time they talked, Laurel tells Emily and Joanna, "Oliver just got back from five years on an uncharted island. Before that, he was cheating on me with my sister. He was with her when she died, and last week he told me to stay away from him. It was really good advice." She looked at Oliver, coldly adding, "Excuse me." _

_"It was nice to meet you." Emily tells him, before she and Joanna follow after Laurel._

_"C'mon buddy, shake it off." Tommy tells him, after seeing the look on Olivers' face. "Let's go."_

_Once they get outside, they see a large group of reporters surrounding Martin Summers._

_"I don't know what I've done to earn this witch hunt from Ms. Lance, and her bosses at the CNRI, but I can tell you this: I am an honest businessman, and I will fight this slander to my last dime and breath. That's all I have to say. Thank you." _

_As he leaves, some of the reporters see Oliver and Tommy. They all hurry over, trying to ask him more questions. They walk to the car, with Digg trying to keep the reporters away. Some of them crowd Oliver, trying to get a comment or photo._

_Digg starts pushing away some photographers. When one of them refused to listen, Digg pushes him away even harder, threatening to make him swallow his own camera. _

_Before Tommy or Digg can get in the car, it speeds off, leaving them without their ride back._

"Sorry guys," Oliver and Queen both apologized, trying to hold back their laughter.

_"This happens to you a lot, doesn't it?" Tommy asked, turning to Digg. Digg on the other hand, just sighs, and looks resigned._

_Laurel is shown next, giving her opening statement for her newest trial. "How much is a life worth? A life of a man, a good man. A father, a man with a daughter. The plaintiff will prove, by the ponderance of evidence, that Victor Noscenti found out that his boss – that man sitting right there – Martin Summers, was taking bribes from the Chinese Triads, to smuggle drugs into our city. And when Victor Noscenti threatened to tell the police, Martin Summers had him killed. Mr. Summers is well connected, and has friends in the District Attorney's office. Which is why if Emily Noscenti is to get justice for her father's death, if Martin Summers is to get justice for his crimes, someone is gonna have to do it for them."_

_Oliver, in the space under the factory, is working out again. He is climbing up a thick rope, using nothing but his upper body strength to pull himself up. Oliver continues to do other exercises as another voice over starts. _

_Oliver:__ Martin Summers. Laurel's targeted the worst of Starling City's underworld, so it's no surprise his name is on my father's list. The city's DA and police can't stop him, or won't. Laurel thinks she the only one who's willing to bring him to justice. She's wrong. _

_Martin Summers, in his office at the docks, is with some of his employee's, talking about Laurel and the trial. _

_"You. Listen up. The longer this goes on, the more likely the media's gonna crucify me. You shut this trial down, do you understand me?" _

_Something hits the lights directly over Summer's head, causing them to briefly flicker. Once Summers can see, he looks around, trying to find out what's going on. Instead of finding the problem, all he sees are his employees on the ground, knocked out. Then, while he's looking away, an arm reaches out, snatching him from the room. _

"You seriously just snatched him like that?" Digg asked, not really all that surprised. After all, he'd seen Oliver do some pretty surprising things, so that was nothing. 

"Well, yeah," Queen answered. "I needed to get him before he tried to run away, and I didn't want to waste time chasing him down, or subduing him."

_When Summers finally wakes up, he is tied up outside, and hanging upside down. The first thing he sees is the man in the green hood, glaring at him._

_"Martin Summers, you failed this city." Oliver takes out an arrow and shoots it at Summers, scaring him. "You're going to testify in that trial." Oliver continues angrily. "You're going to confess to having Victor Noscenti killed. There won't be second warning!" Oliver shoots another arrow at Summers, scratching Summers on the cheek. By the time Summers looks around, Oliver is already long gone. _

Tommy watched the screen, shocked at Olivers actions, and felt even guiltier at what he'd said to Oliver earlier. Yeah, finding out Oliver was actually the Hood was a huge shock, but Oliver was actually doing a lot of good. He wished that he'd let Oliver explain his reasons for being the Hood, instead of jumping to conclusions. He also hoped that Oliver would continue being honest with them. He wanted to help Oliver, and was grateful that he was getting that chance.

_"I hired you to protect my son." Moira tells Digg, in the Queens' living room. "Now, I'm not a professional bodyguard, but it seems to me that the first requirement would to be managing to stay next to the man hired to protect." _

_"With all due respect ma'am, I never had a client that didn't want my protection." Digg replies. _

_"I hired you. That makes me the client. Now where do you think my son is going on these chaperoneless excursions?"_

_"Ma'am, I truly do not know." _

_"He truly doesn't." Oliver adds, striding into the room._

_"Then perhaps you'd like to share with me where it is you run off to." Moira says._

_Oliver chuckles a little. "I've been alone for five years."_

_"I know that, Oliver."_

_"No, mom," Oliver gives her a meaningful look. "I've been __alone__." He says emphatically, hoping she gets what he's trying to say. _

_"I see."_

_"I promise to introduce her, if it ever gets to the ….exchanging first names….. stage." Oliver tells her trying not to smile._

_"No, I'd rather you promise to take Mr. Diggle on your next rendezvous. It's not safe, you've already been abducted once. There is a maniac out there, hunting the wealthy -" _

"Gee, thanks Mom. Calling me a maniac, that's so nice of you."

_"He saved my life."_

_"This isn't a game. I lost you once, and I am not going through that again."_

_"Okay." Oliver says, trying to calm down his mother. "Diggs my guy."_

"Tommy, I swear to God, if you try to make a joke about that, I will kill you with a paper clip." Oliver threatened, seeing Tommy's 'trolling' face. Tommy immediately wiped the expression of his face, and turned back to the screen, hoping that Oliver wasn't being serious.

_"Thank you." Moira says, relieved._

_Oliver looks at Digg. "Sorry to give you so much grief."_

_"I served three tours in Afghanistan Mr. Queen. You don't even come close to my definition of grief." _

Digg chuckled at that. "Now he does."

_"But I tell you what." Digg continued. "You ditch me one more time, and no one will have to fire me." _

_Digg leaves, and Oliver notices Thea heading out. "Where you going?"_

_"Uh, somewhere loud and smoky." She answers. "And don't bother trying to pickpocket my stash this time, 'cause I'm gonna go get drunk instead." Thea adds, smirking._

"Thea, I thought we agreed that you'd call me whenever you felt like doing that." Tommy said, worried about her. "Y'know, so that you wouldn't do something like that." Thea ignored him, hoping to avoid another one of those conversations.

_"Thea, do you think this is what Dad would want for you?"_

_"Dead people don't want anything. It's one of the benefits of being dead."_

_"I was dead. And I wanted a lot."_

_"Except for your family. You've been home a week, and all you've done is avoid Mom, ignore Walter, and judge me. Don't wait up."_

"More like avoid Mom whenever she started trying to push me to join the company, ignore Walter when he tried to do the same, and try to make sure you weren't doing anything like getting drunk, high, or stoned. Especially since Mom and Walter weren't trying to do anything to stop you." Oliver corrected, making his family—especially Thea- feel guilty about their previous actions.

_"Well I owe you an apology, Mr. Summers." Detective Lance said to Summers, while at his office at the docks. "We come all the way down to your docks, and it turns out that you don't even need the police, after all."_

_"Which is exactly what I've been saying." _

_"Yeah, so I guess that 911 call we got last night, saying you were getting attacked by a guy in a green hood, with a bow and arrow, that was….what? A practical joke?" Lance asks, noticing a long, thin, hole in Summers desk. _

_"These guys like to fool around."_

_"Yeah, well you know I'd be inclined to believe an honest, outstanding businessman, like yourself, except—well, one of my men found this at your docks." Lance replies, pulling a green arrow out of an evidence bag. "You see, there's this vigilante running around, he thinks he's some kind of Robin Hood—"_

Oliver frowned. "I am not Robin Hood! Don't correct me Thea." He added, seeing the amused look on his sisters face.

_"—he's robbing the rich, trying to teach them a lesson or something. I don't know. But the point is, the man's a killer."_

"Didn't see you complaining when you were asking for help getting Laurel back from Vanch."

"Thanks for that, by the way."

"You're welcome."

_"And no one, nothing, is gonna stop me from bringing him down."_

"Not even your own daughter's safety. You try to use her as bait, then say I'm the cruel, heartless one."

_"But like you said, (He easily fits the arrow into the hole in Summers desk) clearly, nothing happened here last night."_

_"Isn't this a conflict of interest, Detective? After all, your daughter is suing me."_

_"I'm pretty good at keeping my emotions in check."_

Laurel frowned. "Since when?"

_"I'm not. You and your daughter don't want to find out what I'm capable of, when I get emotional." _

_Instead of responding, Lance merely leaves, along with the other cops._

_"As you can see, Oliver we've modernized quite a bit." Walter tells Oliver, as they tour the Queen Consolidated building. Oliver looks around, acting impressed. Seeing some young women nearby, Oliver smiles flirtingly, and greets them._

_"Are you enjoying yourself?" Moira asks him, happy to seeing Oliver acting like he used to._

_"Yes, I am."_

"Nope. Not at all."

_"I remember when your father used to bring you here when you were a boy." Walter continued. "You were always so excited."_

_"Dad let me drink soda in the office." _

_"Oh, so that's why you enjoyed coming."_

_"Queen Consolidated success rate is a result of its high diversification." Walter starts. "We have been making impressive in-roads in cutting edge fields, like bio-tech, and clean energy."_

_"That's neat." Oliver says, not really paying attention. He looks out the office, where Walters' secretary is. "Excuse me, can I get a sparkling water, or something cold, please?"_

_"Sweetheart, Oliver…" Moira starts, trying to get Oliver's attention. "Walter and I have something to discuss with you. Come, please sit."_

_"Mom, it makes me nervous when you ask me to sit down."_

_Walter starts speaking again. "The company's about to break ground on a new site for the Applied Sciences division, and we would like to honor your father by dedicating the building in his name."_

_"Nice," comments Oliver._

_"And, we'd like to make an announcement at the dedication." Moira continues. "That you will be taking a leadership position in the company." _

_"No." Oliver firmly tells them._

_"__Your__. __Your__ company."_

_"I don't want to lead anything. Besides, Walter is doing a very good job here."_

_"You said that you wanted to be a different person." Moira says, trying to convince Oliver to go with their idea. "You __are__ Robert Queens son."_

"Because, apparently, that's the only thing about me that matters."

_"I don't need to be reminded of that."_

_"Obviously, you do."_

_"Everyone here understands that this transition is difficult for you." Walter adds._

"Obviously not, seeing as you guys keep trying to force me to do all these things, way before I'm ready to. And apparently would rather believe that I'm being lazy and rude when I try to tell you I'm not ready, and try to tell you how I'm actually feeling about the whole situation."

Walter and Moira cringed at the barely suppressed anger and resentment in Oliver's voice. They had thought that they were doing the right thing back then, but after seeing some of the things Oliver had to go through, and hearing how he actually felt about what they did, they could definitely see why Oliver was so angry at them. They both felt horrible about the fact that they were pushing him to live up to their expectations, and then got angry with him when he couldn't. He was still trying to deal with everything that had happened to him, and they never bothered to think about that.

_"Thank you, Walter. Which part though? Everyone fantasizing that I got my MBA while I was on the island, or the fact that my father's CFO sleeps down the hall from me?"_

_Both Walter and Moira look at Oliver, disappointed. Moira starts to leave, then looks back at Oliver. "You know, five years ago, your irresponsibility was somewhat charming. It is a lot less so now." _

Everyone in the room started giving Walter and Moira angry, disappointed glares.

_As soon as Oliver leaves the building, reports swarm him, asking questions. Digg hurries Oliver into the car, then gets in after him. The reporters crowd around the car, still trying to get Olivers attention. _

_"The driver will be here in a minute." Digg tells him._

_"Okay."_

_"Y'know, I spent the first twenty-seven years of my life in Starling City, the next five in Afghanistan. You wanna know what I learned?"_

_"There's no place like home?" Oliver answers, not really caring._

_"No. Just the opposite. Home is a battlefield."_

"Completely true." Oliver commented. "Living on the island was easy. Everything was black and white. I always knew who my enemies were, and who my allies were. Here, it's impossible to tell. Everything is gray, and almost nobody tells the truth. There are no clear sides, and everyone seems to out for themselves."

_"Back home, they're all trying to get you. Trying to get you to open up, trying to get you to be somebody you're not sure you are anymore."_

"Also completely true."

_Digg watches Oliver, looking at his reaction. "You know, I could be wrong. Maybe after five years alone, you're not as messed up in the head as you have a right to be." _

Oliver's family, along with Laurel and Tommy, were surprised at how well Digg seemed to understand what Oliver was going through, and how he was feeling. They were grateful though, seeing as Oliver would have someone to help him while they wouldn't. They all decided to talk with Digg as soon as they could, to see if he could help them understand this new Oliver, and help them fix their relationships with him.

_Oliver flashes back to the island, not long after the raft washed up there. He's dirty and weak, and hasn't had any food in days. He looks up from where he was laying on the ground, and sees several birds picking at his father's dead body. He tries to hurry over, yelling to scare the birds away. Once he gets to the life raft, he sees what's left of his father, causing him to start vomiting. He weakly tries to keep the birds away from his father's corpse, before picking the body up, and then starting to carry it away. _

"Oh, my God." Thea whispered, even more concerned about her brother. Seeing their father's dead body like that must have been horrible. At least Oliver had tried to keep the birds away from it. She hoped that Oliver had been able to give their dad a decent burial, or as decent as he could under the circumstances. She looked over at Oliver, wanting to thank him for trying to protect their father's remains. When she saw him though, the words died in her throat.

Oliver was staring at the floor, a completely blank look on his face. His eyes were empty, and emotionless. "Ollie? Ollie, can you hear me? Ollie?!" She grew scared at how unresponsive he was. Everyone looked at Oliver trying to see why Thea was so scared. She looked at Digg and Felicity. "What's the matter with him? Why is he doing that? Is he okay?" She asked them rapidly, hoping they could explain why her brother was sitting there like a zombie.

Digg and Felicity looked at Oliver, immediately recognizing the look he had.

"He's okay, Thea. Look, he's already snapping out of it. See?" Felicity reassured her.

It was true. Digg was softly talking to Oliver, and was slowly getting some response from him. As Everyone watched, Oliver reacted to Digg a little faster, and some of the life was coming back to his eyes.

"What was that?" Thea asked, scared. "I mean, why did Oliver just shut down like that?"

"It was to protect himself from any more bad memories, or emotions. He didn't do it on purpose, he just subconsciously shut down after having to relive so many bad memories. All of the stuff we've seen so far must have scared him, and he was probably feeling overwhelmed. So, in order to protect itself, his mind just shut down until the danger was gone. Things like that are pretty common with people who have PTSD. Especially when the PTSD is as severe as Olivers'." Felicity explained, hoping that she was helping his family understand just how much the last few years had hurt him, and how much they needed to help him.

_Laurel and Joanna, at CNRI, are discussing the trial with their client, Emily Noscenti. _

_"Well, we anticipate that Summers attorney will try to paint you as either 'blinded by grief', or 'trying to make a buck'." Joanna tells Ms. Noscenti._

_"But this isn't about the money, I just want justice for my father." She argues._

_"Emily, there are a lot of people who don't want this trial to proceed." Laurel reminds her. "Dangerous people."_

_"My mother died when I was a baby, and my father has been the only family I have ever known. And they slit his throat. They are gonna have to kill me, if they want me to give this up." She says, clearly determined._

_"Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that." _

_"And it won't." Detective Lance walks in, with three uniformed cops behind him._

_"What's going on?" Laurel asks him._

_"What's going is that the three of you are getting around the clock police protection. Get you used to their faces, cause their going everywhere you go. No arguments."_

_"I'm a lawyer. I live to argue."_

_"I'm your father. I live to keep you safe."_

_"Emily, why don't we go grab a cup of coffee?" Joanna suggests, wanting to give Laurel and her father time to talk about it._

_"Yes, please, go do that." Lance agrees, then has two of the officers leave with them. He has the third stay with him and Laurel while they talk. _

_"Protective custody? I seem to remember you doing that once I discovered boys. It didn't work then either."_

_"This isn't a joke Laurel. Martin Summers got attacked last night."_

_Laurel looks surprised. "What? By who?"_

_"Doesn't matter. Point is, you have whipped up a storm with these guys. And until the dust settles, you are going to be protected. End of discussion."_

_"That might have worked when I was eight, but it's not going to work anymore."_

_"End of discussion, Laurel! You're insistent on doing your job, and that's great. This is me doing mine. Not just as a father, but as a cop. These people, they are more dangerous then you are willing to admit. And you've made them angry."_

_Later that night, Martin Summers meets a white haired Asian woman in his office at the docks. _

"他妈的." (Damn it.) Oliver and Queen cursed, recognizing the woman. "That's China White."

"I'm guessing the fact that she was there was a bad thing?" Tommy asked, getting concerned about the trouble Laurel may have been in.

"Yeah, a very, very, VERY bad thing." Oliver said.

Queen explained, "China White is one of the most brutal Triad members ever. If she had gotten a hold of Laurel, there wouldn't even have enough of her remains to fill a Ziplock bag, by the time White was done with her."

Everyone else cringed at that thought, grateful that it hadn't happened. Nobody deserved to die like that, especially Laurel.

_"Thank you, for coming." Summers says to the woman._

_"Anything for a friend." She replies, in a fake friendly voice._

_"We're not friends. You smuggle drugs, I let you use my port."_

_"For which you're paid a lot of money."_

_"I don't get paid enough to get arrows shot at me. You need to take this guy seriously. He is a bigger threat to your operation then Noscenti ever was."_

"Damn straight!" Digg, Felicity, Oliver, and Queen agreed, smirking.

_"Except that now, it's Noscenti's daughter that's the problem. Unlike your friend with the hood, we know where to find her."_

_"Don't be an idiot. You take out Emily Noscenti, and Laurel Lance will never let this go. She won't stop until she burns you, me, and the __entire__ Triad to the ground."_

"You've got that right." Laurel said, pleased with the fact that she had had Summers that worried.

_"Then we kill Ms. Lance."_

_The next day, Oliver was watching the news in his room as he got dressed. He frowned once he heard the news about Summers trial. Thea was walking by, and saw the scars on Oliver's back. Looking shocked, she hurried over to him._

_"Wait, how did you get those?"_

_"Don't you knock?!" _

_Thea starts trying to push Olivers shirt away, so she can get a better look at her brother's scars. _

_"Mom said there were scars, but—" her voice trails off, as she sees just how badly her brother is scarred. Looking horrified, she asks him, "O-Oliver, what happened to you, out there?"_

_Oliver slowly moves away from her, and starts buttoning up his shirt. "I don't wanna talk about it." He quietly answers._

_Thea scoffs. "Of course you don't. You never want to talk to me about anything. Except my social life." _

"How are we supposed to talk about anything, if we don't really know each other anymore?" Oliver asked, frowning. "We don't have anything in common anymore, which kind makes it hard to have a regular conversation, and besides, seeing as I missed out on five years of pop culture, I probably wouldn't know what you would be talking about if we did try to talk. And, also, the only thing anyone really tried to get me to talk about was the accident, and the island, which I can't really talk about yet. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, it's just that there was nothing we could normally talk about. And can you blame me for trying to find out about your social life, considering what your social life was? Of course I'm going to pay attention to things like that! I was trying to make sure you didn't completely wreck your life. Even if I couldn't really be the brother you wanted, I could at last do that much for you."

_"Wait." Oliver says sharply. "Where are you going?"_

_"__Why__ should I tell you?"_

_"I'm sorry, Thea. I need to get better at talking about what happened to me there. But, I'm not ready yet, okay?"_

_"Do you have a second?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Good. I wanna show you something out back."_

_They walk outside, going close to the wooded area behind their home._

_"Sometimes, when I felt—whatever—I'd come here." Thea tells him, gesturing to two headstones. She bends down to wipe some dirt off her father's headstone. "About a month after the funerals, Mom stopped going out. Pretty soon she stopped talking altogether. The house got so quiet. So I'd come out here. To talk to you." Thea points to the other headstone, which has Oliver's name on it. _

_"I mean, stupid stuff, like what I was doing that day, what boy I had a crush on. And then sometimes, I'd ask you, __beg __you, to find your way home to me. Now here you are, and the truth is, I felt closer to you when you were dead. Look, I know it was hell where you were. But it was hell here too. You gotta let me in Ollie. You gotta let __someone__ in!" _

"If you think that your life has been hell these last couple of years, then you obviously have no idea what hell is really like. You've never had to worry about being attacked or killed at any second, you never had to go days without food, you had easy access to a doctor when you were sick or hurt, you never had to worry about things like being tortured, you never had to be ready to kill someone at a seconds notice, just to be able to survive for a little while longer."

"When you did something stupid, Mom or Walter would just pay off anyone who could get you in trouble. If I did something stupid, I'd beaten until I blacked out. And that was if I was lucky. If I wasn't so lucky, I'd be facing things like torture. And I don't mean things like getting smacked around. I mean things like being beaten until I had broken bones. Or someone carving up me with a knife, like a fucking turkey. Or even being burned, until I gave in. That's what hell is really like. That's the sort of thing I went through, on a daily basis, for FIVE YEARS. Yeah, things weren't easy for you, but it definitely was not hell."

Nobody knew how to respond to that. What could they say after something like that, after all. It's not like they knew the right thing to say when a loved one tells you that he was brutally tortured for five years. All of them felt guiltier than ever for how they had been treating Oliver, but all the sympathy in the world couldn't take away his scars, or the memories of being beaten and tortured. It would stop the nightmares, or get rid of his PTSD, or give him back the five years he'd lost to the island. They all wanted to help him, but none of them knew how. They were all determined to try though, for Oliver's sake.

_Later that night, Laurel is in her apartment, working, when she hears a knock at the door. When she opens the door, she finds Oliver standing there, holding something in a small paper bag._

_"Hi," he greets her, nervous. "Are you okay? There are two cop cars outside."_

_"How am I supposed to stay away from you, if you won't stay away from me?"_

_"I-," Oliver starts, but is interrupted by Laurel._

_"What are you doing here, Ollie?"_

_"My sister—she pointed out to me that I have been distant since I got back, and it would probably be a good idea if I let someone in."_

_"So, you thought you'd start with the first person you pushed away."_

_"I did that to protect you. And then I saw you yesterday, and I realized that I hurt you."_

_Laurel sighs at that, but let's Oliver into her apartment. _

_"Thank you," he says, as he goes in. He looks around, seeing the apartment for the first time in five long years. "Wow, this place hasn't changed in five years."_

_"I haven't really had time to redecorate," Laurel tells him, her voice laced with annoyance. _

_"I'm a jerk." Laurel stops walking, but doesn't turn around. "Before the island, I was a jerk. And now I'm just a…. a damaged…. Jerk." _

_"What's in the bag?"_

_"I thought about many things on the island, but there was one thing I thought about every day. I actually dreamed about it, and I promised myself if I ever got a chance to do it again, I'd do it with you." He pulls out a large container of ice cream, making Laurel smile a little. "Eat ice cream."_

_After Oliver sets down his ice cream, he comments to Laurel, "This is as good as I remember." After a slight pause, he adds, "My mother wants me to join the company. Yeah, take my rightful place."_

_"I can't exactly picture you as master of the universe." Laurel jokes._

_"Y'know, after five years, I have plans. I have things that I have to do. I can't do that, if I'm…I don't know…..attending board meetings, and stockholder briefings."_

_"Oliver," Laurel starts, " You're an adult, you can say no."_

_"Oh, I tried. Didn't take."_

_"Well then, don't tell her. Show her."_

"And then get shot in the chest, scare Cici, get blood all over the back seat of her car, black out, have a seizure, then go into cardiac arrest, and nearly die."

_"Be the person you want her to see you as. Trust me, I have plenty of experience with disapproving parents."_

_"I have been on the receiving end of your father's disapproval."_

_"He blames himself, more than he blames you. He thinks that if maybe he and Sarah were closer, she would have told him about the boat trip. And he could have stopped her from going with you."_

_"I am sorry."_

_"You apologized already." _

_"And it will never be enough."_

_Oliver hears some noise coming from the fire escape. "Did you hear that?"_

_"What?"_

_"There's someone on the fire escape." Oliver picks up a nearby knife, and takes it with him, as he goes to check. "Hey, c'mon. C'mon!" Oliver says sharply, making Laurel go with him. They hurry to the front door, but an intruder breaks it down, so they hurry towards Laurel's bedroom. As soon as they get to the doorway, another intruder comes through the window. They turn around, and try to go into another room, only to find it blocked by China White, armed with two large knives. _

_Oliver turns, looking for another way out, only to see Digg shoot one of the intruders. He also shoots the second intruder, before being attacked by China White. Digg knocks one of the knives from her hands, and gets in several hits. White soon gets the upper hand though, and tries to stab Digg. Oliver throws the kitchen knife he was holding, and it knocks the knife out of White's hand. She gets up, and runs away, knowing she'd be arrested if stayed any longer. Laurel runs over, terrified, and Oliver makes sure she's okay. _

_Digg turns to them, and asks, "Are you hurt? Are you hurt, Mr. Queen?"_

_"No." Oliver answers._

_"This is why it's a good idea to have a bodyguard." _

_The police soon arrive, including Detective Lance. He immediately checks on Laurel, grateful she's alive. Laurel asks about the police who were supposed to be watching her. Digg explains that they were all found, dead._

_Lance goes to Digg. "Mr. Diggle, thank you. Feel free to run as many red lights in this city as you want."_

_"I'm just doing my job, sir." _

_"No, your job is protecting him." Lance corrects, glaring at Oliver. _

_"It seems like whenever you're with one of my daughters, people die."_

"Again, that didn't seem to bother him during the situation with Vanch." Oliver commented. "I actually had to stop him from killing Vanch."

_"You stay away from Laurel, or I swear, the next time you disappear, it will be permanent." _

"And he can't even make a decent threat."

_"Dad!" Laurel exclaims._

_"No, Laurel—"_

_"It's okay," Oliver quietly says. "I understand."_

_Lance gives him another glare, then goes back to Laurel. _

_At the Queen mansion, Oliver tosses Digg an ice pack. "I'd say thank you, but I don't think that would cover it."_

_"Well, like I told your cop friend, I was just doing my job. Besides I think it should be you, who I'm thanking."_

_"What for?"_

_"That knife." Digg answers._

_"The knife. I got lucky."_

_"That was a kitchen knife. It wasn't even weighted properly, yet you threw it accurately across a ten foot room."_

_"Exactly. I got lucky."_

_"I'm not the kind of guy you want to take for a fool, Mr. Queen. You understand me?"_

_"Yes."_

"Yes, because I really don't want to wind up getting your size ten boot shoved up my задница.(Ass)" Oliver joked. 

Digg laughed at that. "Smartass."

"Guys! Watch your language!" Felicity exclaimed in a mock serious voice.

"Yes, dear."

"Sorry, dear."

Everyone else watched them, feeling a mixture of surprise, happiness -and in some cases—envy. It was a nice surprise, seeing Oliver so happy, instead of the wary, withdrawn Oliver they being seeing the last hour. While they all felt guilty about not being there for Oliver, they were grateful that there were some people Oliver felt comfortable and happy with. This made them a little more determined to make up for their mistakes, knowing that Oliver could get better, and wanting him to him be that happy with all of them, not just two people.

_"And I think I'm just starting to understand the kind of man you are."_

_"Shouldn't take you very long. I'm shallow. And very tired, so…..good night." _

_"Good night, sir."_

_Oliver goes to the old factory in the Glades, to put on his Hood gear. As he puts everything on, a voice over starts, about what Oliver thinks about Summers._

_Oliver:__ I wanted to give Summers the chance to confess, and face a courts justice. But he chose to go after someone I care about instead. He's still going to face justice, it'll just be a different kind. _

_Summers, in his office, is shown quickly packing up to leave._

_"Triad bitch, screwed up the hit on Lance. Now the Triad is gonna erase every ounce of this smuggling operation. Including __me__. Tell Wallace to get the boat ready, I'm leaving tonight."_

_The guard gets out his walkie talkie, and starts trying to contact Wallace. He tries more than once, to get an answer, but only gets static. The guard tries again, and finally gets an answer. Instead of Wallace on the other end though, he gets the Hood._

_"Wallace isn't here….But I am."_

_Barely controlling his panic, Summers orders, "We need to move. __Now.__" _

_"Sir, we've got six men out there." _

_"It's not enough! __Move!" _

"Only six men? That was boring." Queen commented.

Oliver nodded. "I got them out of the way in less than five minutes."

_Back at Laurel's apartment, Detective Lance is trying to convince Laurel to stop pressuring Summers, or to drop the case altogether. Laurel on the other hand, refuses to back down._

_"If you think I'm going to abandon Emily Noscenti, then you don't know me all that well."_

_"You don't know me that well, young lady! I will lock you in the cellar if that what it takes!"_

Thea frowned. "Isn't that illegal?"

Laurel rolled her eyes. "That wouldn't stop him."

_"Well, I guess that's what it's gonna take then."_

_Lance rubbed his eyes. "Dammit Laurel! I thought after what happened—with Sarah—you'd stop being so reckless."_

Tommy winced. "That was definitely the wrong thing to say."

_"This is not about being reckless!" Laurel yells. "It's just the opposite. I'm trying to make this city safer, just like you."_

_"Sweetie, you're my only daughter, Laurel. You're all I have to live for." _

_"But what you want for me isn't living. Having cops around, not being able to do my job."_

_"Your job is not going after people like the __Triad__, or Summers!"_

_"My job is to use the law to help people. Just like you taught me."_

_"Well that's dirty. You used me against me. You can't do that."_

"Why not? You used Sarah against me." Laurel's voice was bitter. Tommy put his arms around her, not really sure how to help her.

_"Well, maybe I picked that up along the way, too."_

_Before Lance can respond, he phone goes off. He listens to the person on the other end, then hangs up. "I've gotta go. Something's going on at the docks." Lance tells her as he leaves._

_The problem at the docks is shown to be Oliver, fighting several of Summers guards. He is dodging gunfire, shooting down guards, and using his parkour skills to get around the large storage containers piled on the docks._

_He makes it away from the main part of the shipping area, and sees Summers trying to run away._

_"Summers!" Oliver yells. Oliver runs after him. Summers runs into a nearby building, and looks behind him. Once he sees the Hood, he looks even more terrified. Oliver stops running for a second, and fires an arrow, which catches Summers in the shoulder, pinning him to the crate he's in front of._

_"Oh, God! No, no, no!"_

_"He can't help you." Oliver fires another arrow, scaring Summers even more. "I want the truth about Victor Noscenti!"_

_"I can't. The Triad will kill me." _

_Oliver gets ready to fire a third arrow. "The Triad's not your concern right now." He shoots the arrow into Summers leg. _

_"Alright, alright! It wasn't me who killed him, it was the Triad!"_

_"Acting on whose instructions?" Summers doesn't answer, so Oliver fires another arrow. "Whose?!" _

_"Alright, alright! It was mine, alright? Noscenti said he was gonna testify against me." Summers looks frightened at something behind Oliver, so he turns around to see what it is. _

_And he finds himself face-to-face with China White._

_"Move away from him." She says in a foreign language._

_"Make me," Oliver challenges, in the same language._

_They start fighting, but are interrupted by the police. After hearing that the police have the building surrounded, they both make their escape. Oliver makes it out the building, and past a group of shipping container, when Detective Lance catches up to him. _

_"Freeze!" He calls, pointing his gun directly at Oliver. "You twitch, and you're dead. Bow down, and put your hands up." He start smirking, thinking that he's finally caught the Hood._

_Oliver stays still for a few seconds, then throws one of his smaller arrows at Lance, knocking the gun from his hand. The arrow is embedded in a nearby shipping container, but by the time Lance looks around, the Hood is already gone. Lance notices a small, blinking device and the arrow, and carefully presses a button on it. As soon as he does, the recording of Summers confession starts playing. _

_"Son of a bitch." Lance mumbles in disbelief. _

_Oliver: __Laurel was right. (Oliver starts putting his Hood gear away, once back in the Foundry.) I can't be the Oliver my mother wants me to be, and still keep the promise I made to my father._

"Also, that's just not who I am. At all."

_Oliver:__ I need to be the person I need them to see me as. _

_The next day, several reporters, Oliver's family, Tommy, and Laurel are all at the site dedication. _

_"Okay, this is a surprise," Tommy commented, seeing Laurel there. "Did you show up here by mistake?" _

_"By invitation. Oliver invited me last night."_

_"Last night?"_

_"Is that surprise, or jealousy I'm hearing?"_

_"Look, I just don't want him to find out anything, okay? Oliver has been through a lot."_

_"Tommy, we've all been through a lot."_

_"Good afternoon," Walter greets the crowd. "And thank you all for coming. Welcome to the future site, of the Robert Queen Memorial Applied Sciences Center." Everyone started clapping. "Now, this is a building that will stand as monument to the man whose company—and whose vision—are his greatest legacies."_

_"Whoa," Oliver exclaimed. Oliver shows up at the back of the crowd, seemingly drunk. He takes a glass from a nearby tray, and drinks some. Everyone watches him, surprised, and disappointed. _

_"What about me, right? I'm a legacy!" He gets up on the stage, with his family looking embarrassed. "Hey, thanks for warming them up, Walt. Some of you may not know me, my name is Oliver Queen. Watch some television, read a newspaper, I'm kinda famous right now. Mostly, I'm famous because I'm Robert Queen's son. But Walter, whose my new Dad—sorry, Walter, but as Walter was saying, I'm not much of a legacy, per say. And, uh—" Walter tries to get Oliver to stop, but is ignored. "See, I was supposed to come here, and take my rightful place at the company. Prodigal son returns, and becomes the heir apparent. But I'm not my father. I'm not the man he was. I'm not __half__ the man he was. I never will be. So, please, stop asking me to be." Oliver walks off stage, ignoring everyone else. _

"In case you guys were wondering, I wasn't actually drunk. Just pretending to be." Oliver told everyone. "After all, that's what everyone expected me to be." He added, sounding a little bitter.

_Later, Laurel watches a news report about Martin Summers being arrested, with Emily Noscenti and Joanna. Joanna switches off the TV, then tells Ms. Noscenti that they can keep going with the civil suit if she wants, but the DA is also going after him for his other crimes. _

_"He's going to jail, Emily. For the rest of his life." Laurel adds, smiling._

_"Thank you both, so much, for fighting for us."_

_Well, thank you, for being brave enough to let me." _

_Emily leaves, and Detective Lance comes in. "Hey." He greets Laurel, a little nervous._

_"I thought I didn't need police protection anymore."_

_"I thought I didn't need a reason to see my own daughter."_

_"You don't." _

_Lance goes over to Laurel's desk. "You look tired." She comments._

_"Yeah, I was filling out reports about the shoot-out at the ports last night. I was grilled about how I let that archer get away."_

_"I have to admit, I'm kinda glad he did. He brought down Martin Summers."_

_"He hurt a bunch of people doing it, okay? He is no hero, he is an anarchist."_

"Huh. Don't think anyone's ever called me an anarchist before. At least he used a less common insult this time."

"Really Oliver? You're making jokes about how he insults you?"

"Well, making jokes about his wardrobe is a little cliché."

_"Well, whoever he is, it seems like he's trying to help." _

_"The city doesn't need that kind of help, okay? It's like I always taught you: you don't need to go outside the law to find justice. Now, I believe that, alright? I promise that when I catch this guy, he's gonna believe it too." _

_Oliver, in his bedroom, sits down at his desk with his small notebook. He flips through the pages, until he finds Martin Summers name. Once he does, he gets out a pen, and crosses it out. _

_A flashback occurs, with Oliver carrying his father's corpse. Oliver sets it down on top of a small hill, with a rocky ledge. Oliver puts the body down as gently as he can, then starts trying straighten it out. While fixing his father's legs, he finds a small, leather bound book in one of the pocket. It's the same brown book that Oliver has been using to find his targets as the Hood. Oliver takes it out, and starts flipping through it, wondering why his dad had it. All the pages are blank, but there is an odd symbol on the inside of one the covers. _

_The scene changes again. Two cars are parked near each other on a small bridge. Moira gets out of hers, and gets into the other one. _

_"Well, you saw for yourself," She tells the person across from her." My son knows nothing. Robert didn't tell him anything that could hurt us. And he has no idea that the yacht was sabotaged."_

"WHAT?!"

"We told you guys earlier." Queen reminded them. "Malcolm Merlyn had a bomb put on board the yacht, in order to kill dad."

"No, he didn't!" Tommy argued, unwilling to believe that his dad—as cold as he is—would do something like that.

"I'm sorry, Tommy, but it's true. He did do that, and was actually the one who I was meeting with in that car." Moira gently told him.

"You knew?!" Thea shrieked. "And you didn't do anything to stop him?! WHY?!"

"Because Malcolm said that if I told the police, or did anything to stop him, he would kill you, Walter, Laurel, her family, and any other people we're close to. What was I supposed to do? Let you all die?"

"Because having Malcolm killed is just so much better, right?" Oliver asked sarcastically. "And if Malcolm was dead, how were you going to find out where he had Walter taken? Did you bother to think about that?"

"Judging by the look on your face, I'd say the answer's 'no'," commented Queen.

_Oliver walks to his father's grave, later that day. He kneels before it, and starts quietly talking._

_"All that time on the island, plotting my return, I didn't realize how hard it would be, to reconnect with Mom, Thea, Laurel. I didn't know how painful it would be to keep my secrets. You asked me to save this city, to right your wrongs. I will, I swear. But to do that, I can't be the Oliver everyone wants me to be. Which means that sometimes, to honor your wishes, I need to dishonor your memory. I'm sorry." Oliver stands up, and leaves. _

Everyone listened to Oliver's words, stunned by the amount of emotion in his message. That was more genuine emotion in two minutes, then he had shown in months. He actually sounded like he was trying not to cry at one point. Though they knew he was dedicated to stopping the people on his list, they didn't know he felt that strongly about it.

_"Take it down," he tells two nearby workers. _

_Oliver gets in the car, where Digg is waiting for him. _

_"Will you be going out tonight, sir?" Digg asks._

_"Definitely."_

_The scene goes back to Oliver, on the island. Since Oliver can't bury his father, he's covering Robert's body in large rocks. While Oliver is resting for a minute, he is shot by an arrow, causing him to cry out in pain. Oliver looks behind him, and sees a man, wearing green clothing, standing several yards away. The man is also holding a bow, and a quiver full of arrows. As Oliver watches, the man takes out another arrow, and gets ready to shoot him again._

"And there's Yoa Fei, my first mentor." 


	5. Intermission 2: The Reactions

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything related to this story.

Authors Note: Hey, if there's any Young Justice fans reading this, I recently started a Young Justice/Arrow crossover. It's called _The First Young Justice. _Please read it!

"Wait, what?" Digg asked in surprise. "That's Yoa Fei? Why did he shoot you?"

"To protect me. There were some pretty dangerous people on the island, and for some reason I never actually found out, he wanted to protect me from them."

"So he shot you? That doesn't really make a whole lot of sense." Felicity said, frowning slightly.

"Yeah, I know." Oliver said shrugging. "But that's just the way things were out there. There wasn't a whole lot of time for playing nice or asking for permission, or explaining things like that. You just did what you had to, and hope it worked."

Nobody knew what to say. They were all stunned at everything they had seen, as well as what Oliver had told them. They knew that the last few years couldn't have been easy for Oliver, but they'd never guessed that Oliver would have gone through so much, or that he'd be so different. They could barely recognize him now, with his scars, hard gaze, and different attitude. He was so jaded now, and they felt like they couldn't really connect with him. At times it was like he never really came back from the island. Like they got a stranger back instead.

Tommy, Laurel, and Oliver's family watched him talk with Digg and Felicity. He looked completely at ease with them, more comfortable than he did with any of them. As they watched, Digg and Felicity started laughing at a story Oliver was telling them.

"….So then Clark says, 'Um, A.C? That's on the left side. Are you drunk or something?' and we all start laughing. Then A.C says, 'Hey, I'm not the one in a pink bikini!', which got everyone laughing even more. Then Barry pulls out a camera out of who—knows—where, and starts trying to take pictures of everyone. Which probably would have worked, if Hal hadn't rigged the camera to make random animal noises, instead of taking pictures."

Oliver, Queen, Digg, and Felicity were laughing so hard that they were crying, by the time Oliver had finished talking. Everyone else watched, both happy to see Oliver so relaxed, and envious that Digg and Felicity were so much closer to Oliver than any of them. They all wished that they could have that kind of closeness with Oliver again, but they had no idea about to go about getting it. Since he was so different, they had no idea about how to approach him, or how to talk to him, or what to talk about.

Thea shook her head. Oliver was right, they're strangers now. He defiantly wasn't the same Oliver he was before the accident, and she knew she'd changed as well. They all had. She wanted him to be the same funny, fun loving brother she'd always known, but she knew that was never going to happen. This Oliver was scarred, both inside and out. He was used to surviving, not partying. He was more responsible, and she knew he'd changed in other ways. She had to admit though, she was happy that Oliver at least, was trying to watch out for her. More than her mother had been the last few years.

Moira quietly sighed. God, she was a horrible mother. Oliver and Thea had already been through so much, and instead of trying to help them, she'd only caused them more pain. No wonder neither of them really talked to her anymore. She hadn't really given them any real reason to trust her. She was relieved that Oliver, at least, was trying to move forward with his life. From the way he was talking about those other people—Clark, A.C, Hal, and Barry—it sounded like they were good friends. Adding Felicity and Mr. Diggle, it seemed like Oliver had plenty good people in his life. Moira hoped that Thea would find good friends like that too.

Walter watched Oliver, smiling. What a remarkable man Oliver was turning into. Most people would be spending the rest of their life crying their eyes out in some therapists' chair, or something worse. Oliver on the other hand, used his experiences as motivation to be a better person. Yes, some of his actions were morally questionable, but he was happy to hear that the Hood was killing a lot less. Oliver didn't need any more negative memories. He had enough from the island. He was also hear that Oliver was spending his time with such wonderful people like Ms. Smoak. It looked like her influence was doing him a lot of good. He hoped those other people he had mentioned were just as good. Oliver needed some positive influences in his life.

Tommy listened to Oliver, smiling a little sadly. Sure he was glad that Oliver was trying to move forward with his life, and that he had some good friends now, he just wished that he was a part of it. Some best friend he was, he couldn't even listen to Oliver when he was willing to explain why he was so different. Then he had the gall to act like he was the better person. He yelled at Oliver for the stuff he'd done without bothering to think about what Oliver was like now, how he may have changed. All he could see was that Oliver was different, not the one he grew up with. Instead of trying to talk to Oliver, he just lashed out, angry at how much everything had changed. No wonder Oliver hasn't tried to fix things between them. He deserved better people, people who would actually listen to him, and help him. Not yell and hurt him more.

Laurel watched Oliver, curious. She wondered who those people he was mentioning were. Were they vigilantes too? Even if they were, she hoped that they were helping Oliver. It seemed like they were, which cheered her up some. Oliver needed people he felt comfortable with, that he could really trust. She hoped that he would really talk to one of them, if he felt like he couldn't talk to his family, Tommy, or her. While she was glad to see Oliver looking so much better, she couldn't help but fell envious. If only Oliver had ever been that close with her. Would Sarah have died? Would he have been cheating on her in the first place, if he had been that close with her? She made herself stop thinking about that. There was no point in worrying about that now. What was done was done. She was glad that Oliver had met those people though. From the way he spoke about them, it was obvious that they meant a lot to him. She hoped that they could help him. She knew he needed help, even if he never really admitted it.


End file.
